Review: Ressence New Type 3

The Ressence watches are intriguing. No hands, no crown. What seems like a floating display which tells the time. We have covered the Type 3  earlier, but the watch was updated this BaselWorld 2015 and this is our hands-on report on the Resssence New Type 3.

The Ressence New Type 3, now with an oil temperature indicator.

By way of introduction to the Ressence series, it is instructive to understand how the watch works. Essentially the watch case is a thin titanium plate with two domed sapphire glass structures attached to each side. The plate also forms the lugs to which a very flexible leather strap is attached to a titanium buckle.

The central titanium plate extends to form the lugs, and two domed sapphire glass encase the plate. The upper dome is filled with oil and contains the time indicators. And the lower dome contains the mechanical movement.

Under the domes is where the interesting stuff happens. The lower dome is the movement, which is derived from a heavily modified ETA 2824-2. And in the upper dome houses some 32.5ml of oil. In this oil is suspended the indicators for the time: hours, minutes, seconds, day, date and oil temperature. The indicators are discs which rotate and the main dial itself rotates. The face of the watch is constantly changing. The connection between the movement and the indicators is via a set of magnets. Interesting indeed. But all these is already introduced in the Ressence Type 3. What is new in the Resssence New Type 3 is the addition of a mechanical oil temperature gauge. Please see the Press Release for the Ressence New Type 3 here.

The caseback holds the secret to winding and setting the indicators. The entire process is rather elaborate, but once learnt, it is quite easy and rather intuitive.

The oil temperature gauge is new because oil is susceptible to temperature changes. In the Resssence New Type 3, seven bellows are used to ensure that the expansion and contraction of the oil as the temperature changes is catered for. The mechanical temperature gauge is used to indicate the optimal operating temperature from -5C to 55C.

Ressence New Type 3. The hours are indicated by the subdial at 6 o’clock. Below that, shown by a small orange triangle is the date. The minutes by the large central hand. At 10 o’clock is the Day indicator, weekends marked in orange. The subdial at 2 o’clock is the new oil temperature indicator. Below that is the seconds hand.

The tactile feel of the watch is extremely interesting. It feels very light, as most of the structure is in titanium. It also feels like a smooth pebble which has stood the ravages of waves over time. Touching the case is very satisfying and a very nice, comforting feeling. Visually, the high contrast indicators seem to be projected onto the crystal, and the dance of the indicators on a watch face which is ever changing is mesmerizing indeed.

The Ressence New Type 3 dial detail. The impression is that the indicators are projected onto the sapphire. This is achieved by carefully selecting the oil to one which has almost the same refractive index as the sapphire glass.

On the wrist, the Resssence New Type 3 is is supremely comfortable belying its 43mm diameter and 15mm height.

Very comfortable. The case is smooth, almost seem to wrap itself around the wrist. The very soft leather strap helps.

A very unique watch, with a wonderful tactile and visual feel. A very interesting watch from a very interesting new independent watchmaker. The price of this uniqueness? US$42,200 recommended retail.