Ressence has spent 16 years making mechanical watches that quite frankly don’t even look like they should be mechanical. Benoît Mintiens’ Belgian outfit ditched hands and crowns entirely, and on its most unhinged models, they’ve submerged the entire display in oil so it reads more akin to a screen than a dial.
There’s always been one problem, though. Those oil-filled flagships have always leaned on reworked third-party ETA movements, while the in-house caliber Ressence debuted this spring went into the air-filled Type 11 instead. The new Type 10 DN finally puts the two together.
Oil, Meet Engine
A quick refresher on why that’s a difficult task to begin with. Ressence’s ROCS display (the cluster of rotating satellite discs that stands in for hands), lives in a hermetically sealed upper chamber filled with 2.95ml of silicone oil, all while the movement breathes regular air below.
The two sides communicate through micro-magnets separated by a 0.1mm titanium membrane, with zero physical contact between them. Now the thing driving that handoff is the RW-04, an evolution of April’s RW-01 caliber that Ressence developed with Concepto.
Twin barrels push a 60-hour reserve through 538 total components, 196 of which are doing their work fully submerged.
82 Grams of Dark Night
The Type 10 is a design reset, too. Where past Ressences were soft, pebble-smooth objects, this one picks up crisp edges. It’s also equipped with a domed sapphire flowing straight out of the case and oil visually pulling the display right up against the crystal.
Case, dial, and integrated rubber strap all wear the same deep blue the brand calls Dark Night. Our favorite detail is the bezel, made from 24 individual titanium segments that alternate lume-filled sandblasted inserts with brushed sections, with each one being rotated 30 degrees so no two catch light the same way.
And despite housing 49 gears, 47 jewels, and eight ball bearings, the whole watch weighs a ridiculous 82 grams.
Flip It Over to Set It
Being a Ressence, there’s still no crown anywhere. Winding and setting happen through the caseback, while the dial serves up hours, minutes, a second time zone, and a 120-second runner that doubles as a shock absorber for the magnetic transmission.
Oh, and there’s an oil temperature indicator that glows green around room temp.
Spec Sheet
Model: Ressence Type 10 DN “Dark Night”
Case Size: 41.5mm
Case Material: Polished Grade 5 titanium with dark blue DLC coating
Weight: 82 grams
Movement: Ressence Caliber RW-04 automatic (in-house) driving the oil-filled ROCS 10 module
Power Reserve: 60 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes, second time zone, 120-second runner, oil temperature indicator
Water Resistance: 50m
Crystal: Double-domed sapphire, front and back
Band: Dark blue rubber strap with titanium pin buckle
Limited Edition?: Yes, 100
Pricing & Availability
Unveiled today at the WatchTime New York show, the Type 10 DN is limited to just 100 pieces worldwide and priced at CHF 45,000 before taxes (roughly $54,000). Deliveries kick off in November, and you can head over to Ressence’s website to learn more.
Recap
Ressence Type 10 DN
For the first time, Ressence pairs its oil-filled display with an in-house movement, all wrapped in an 82-gram titanium monolith.
