It’s hard to find an innovative and unique diving watch from any brand these days. Ressence has completely changed the game with their Type 5, a true diving watch with oil filled time display that is unlike anything you see on the market.
Diving watches are one of the most popular watch categories today. Although the majority of people are using them in daily life, rather than for diving. In today’s fast and active lifestyle these watches proofed to be very durable and trusted timepieces in daily activities. Giving its popularity, the market offers a big variety of watches in this category. But If you start looking around for a diving watch, you will immediately notice that they all look pretty similar. From one side I understand it. Back in the days, when diver’s watches were used exclusively for their intended purpose by the military forces, there were specifications for these kind of watches. Without them, the model wouldn’t be approved. Therefore, of course, all the brands followed them and in the end the watches look almost identical and it’s ok. But today brands have the freedom to express their creativity in designing a diving watch, but unfortunately we don’t see too much creativity here and all the divers look like… Rolex Submariner. And then you see a watch like Ressence Type 5, which is also a true diving watch but it’s just so different and unique. Behind this creativity we have Benoit Mintiens, founder and creative mind of Resssence, an industrial designer who already had a portfolio of designs to his credit – high-speed trains, aircraft cabins, medical devices, leather goods and even hunting guns before he ever designed a watch.
“Built on the expertise of yesterday, crafted with today’s technology, our watches are designed for tomorrow. “
Benoit Mintiens, Founder and Creative Mind
I cannot agree more with the words of Benoit Mintiens.
A good diving watch starts with good readability under water. But Ressence wanted to achieve the best-ever readability under water. For this, the complete module ROCS 5 – all 142 components, including the dial – is immersed in 3.57 ml of oil. Indeed the use of oil has one ultimate advantage. It cancels out what is known as Total Internal Reflection. Typically, under water, a traditional diver’s watch needs to be viewed straight on in order to be read properly – otherwise refraction turns the glass into a mirror. But not with the oil-filled Type 5. The use of oil ensures complete legibility whatever the angle of view. A first for a mechanical watch.
Rather than protecting the Type 5 against the pressure of water depth by using a heavy over-sized case and thick glasses, Ressence used their oil technology. Since the laws of hydraulics state that a liquid cannot be compressed, the oil will compensate for underwater pressure. Type 5 benefits therefore from a super lightweight titanium construction. Moreover there are other advantages related to the oil technology. The components are constantly lubricated and since they are suspended in liquid, they are lighter and hence require less power to move, which in turn improves accurate time-keeping.
The readability of the Type 5 is as simple and efficient during the night as during the day thanks to extra strong blue and green Superluminova.
The Type 5 has been designed to be wearable every day, both in and out of the water. The watch is made 100% from grade 5 titanium, ensuring that it is lightweight – a mere 87grams. Case diameter is 46mm, which may sound like very large, but in reality it wears much smaller, thanks to the very short lugs and slick design. The comfort of wearing the Ressence watches is unbeatable. Not only Type 5 but all of them. You really have to try it. For me they are one of the most comfortable watches on the market. They are light, they have no crown.
Desk diving with Ressence Type 5.
Office setup never looked better.
I didn’t go diving with the Type 5, but spent quite some time with it in different occasions, from casual to more active. I can admit that this watch works pretty well as a daily-beater, if you have an active lifestyle without the need of too formal outfit.
Like all Ressence watches, Type 5 has no crown – rather, the case-back is used both for winding and setting the time of the watch. However, to ensure maximum water-resistance, a new case-back has been specially developed for the Type 5. Dubbed the Ressence Compression Lock System, or RCLS, it has a system for the locking and compression of the gasket, with two positions, ‘lock’ and ‘set’.
The patented ROCS 5 is driven by the minute axle of a customized self-winding ETA 2824/2 base calibre. The “Ressence Orbital Convex System” is a state of the art horological complication module composed of 142 parts including the main and sub discs. The result is a 3 dimensional dial entirely in motion and ever changing. The black dial only emphasise this concept, as it hides the turning disks and it looks like the time is floating.
A 3 dimensional dial entirely in motion and ever changing.
On the picture below, we have Rolex Submariner and Ressence Type 5. Both are divers, one packed with history, another with technology, one has unidirectional rotatable bezel, another filled with oil and has zero reflection under water. One purpose and so different visions.
Ressence Type 5 is for someone, who is looking for an innovative, ultra contemporary and exclusive watch. It’s not cheap though, but you get a very solid package for your money. Fun fact. This watch gets a lot of interest from people who are not into watches. I never got more questions about the watch on my wrist than about Type 5. Some of them think that it’s a smart watch and when you start telling the idea behind this wristwatch, people’s mind is just blowing away.
Ressence Type 5 costs €34,800. More details about Ressence watches on ressencewatches.com
