Meet The Tailor-Made Ressence × The Armoury Type 9 Scattering Sun
It seems like Ressence’s Type 9 is in high demand, at least when it comes to limited editions. At the end of last year, Benoît Mintiens, the founder of Ressence, introduced the minimalist Type 9. With a 39mm case, it’s the brand’s smallest watch, and it comes with either an aqua blue or gray dial. Then, just before summer, Ressence and Ahmed Seddiqi introduced a limited-edition Type 9 with a dial covered in sand from each of the seven emirates. Now, Mintiens is back with yet another new Type 9 LE. This time, he collaborated with Mark Cho, co-founder of The Armoury, to develop the Type 9 Scattering Sun, which could be the most dressy Ressence watch to date.
I was charmed by the introduction of the smaller Ressence Type 9 last year. It’s the first sub-40mm Ressence watch, which means it fits my 17cm wrist better than any other watch from the Belgian brand. However, I wasn’t too keen on the aqua-blue and gray dial options, so the more new variations, the better. Let’s see what this limited edition in collaboration with The Armoury offers.
The Armoury and watches
The Armoury is an artisanal tailor founded by Mark Cho and Alan See. Cho is an avid watch collector, but at some point, he decided to auction off almost his entire collection to finance a new location for one of his stores. The Armoury now has four stores in total — two in Hong Kong and two in New York City. The two founders are no strangers to the world of limited-edition watches. Over the years, they’ve worked with brands like Paulin, Unimatic, and H. Moser & Cie. on limited editions. In addition, they collaborated with Cartier to introduce a solid gold bracelet for the Tank Louis Cartier and the Tank Cintrée. Cho is also a big fan of Ressence. He appreciates the clarity, organic shapes, and sense of movement in the brand’s designs. Working with Mintiens, then, was a logical step.
The new Ressence × The Armoury Type 9 Scattering Sun
The Scattering Sun version features the same 39mm polished titanium case as the original Type 9. Including the double-domed sapphire crystal, it’s only 11mm thick, and its lugs curve nicely around the wrist. What’s very different from the original Type 9 and the limited-edition S75 is that, this time, the bezel isn’t flat and brushed. To link the design to The Armoury’s traditional style, the Type 9 Scattering Sun features a polished and fluted bezel. The luminous hour markers are still there, though, providing nice readability in low-light conditions.
The next particular design choice is the sandblasted salmon titanium dial. It’s still as minimalist as before, with only one portion for the hours and another for the minutes. The Type 9 Scattering Sun also doesn’t feature any numerals on its smaller chapter ring. Instead, there are only shorter and longer minute markers, which resemble the rays of the Sun. The limited edition comes on a chocolate-brown suede strap to match the warm and soothing character of the dial.
Like any Ressence watch, the Type 9 Scattering Sun doesn’t have a traditional crown. With the entire case back, the owner can control the patented ROCS module inside. It’s powered by the minute axle of a mechanical automatic movement based on an ETA caliber 2892-2, and runs at a frequency of 28,800vph, features 31 jewels, and has a 36-hour power reserve.
Available now and limited to 20 pieces
Mintiens and Cho have tried to create a Type 9 that perfectly matches The Armoury’s elegant style and the variety of textures of the fabrics the artisanal tailors use. The polished and fluted bezel will certainly catch your eye when it reflects the light in numerous directions. At the same time, the soft chocolate brown leather strap and the sandblasted salmon dial are a soothing sight. We’ve already seen a similar bezel/dial combo for years with the Rolex Datejust, and it’s surprising to see how well it works on the limited-edition Ressence Type 9 Scattering Sun.
I may have even left out the hour markers completely. But as there’s no conventional crown, it would then have been difficult to see which side was up or down. With the design as it is, there’s no confusion, and the hour markers are subtle enough anyway. I’m very excited that there are already so many versions of the Ressence Type 9, and I can’t wait to see what other variants we’ll get in the coming years.
The dressy Ressence × The Armoury Type 9 Scattering Sun is available now and costs US$19,000 (ex. taxes). Production is limited to 20 pieces, and they are all exclusively available through The Armoury.
