The New Ressence Type 10 “Dark Night” Debuts The Brand’s Second Proprietary Movement

Earlier this year, at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Ressence presented its first proprietary movement, the RW-01, inside the new Type 11. Today, the Belgian brand presents another proprietary movement inside yet another new reference. The new Ressence Type 10 features a polished, deep blue DLC-coated Grade 5 titanium case with the new RW-04 movement inside. The Type 10’s design is all about integration and seamlessness, and with the super-sharp oil-filled dial, it almost makes you feel like you’re looking at a watch from the future.

Benoît Mintiens, Ressence’s founder, said the Type 10’s design began to take shape about four years ago. At first glance, it definitely fits the brand’s more integrated, seamless design language we already saw on the Type 11. However, it also takes these concepts a step further. Let’s take a quick look at this 100-piece limited edition.

The limited-edition Ressence Type 10

The first thing that caught my eye was the Type 10’s new streamlined design. It’s inspired by hydrodynamics, with rounded shapes and sharp edges that seem to have been formed by streams of water. To highlight this fluid design, Mintiens decided to fully polish the Grade 5 titanium case and add a deep blue DLC coating. The 41.5mm exterior features a double-domed sapphire crystal up front and a domed case back with a donut-shaped sapphire crystal.

Instead of a single ring, the bezel inlay consists of 24 separate parts — 12 sandblasted luminous markers and 12 brushed portions in between. This causes the light to reflect in a unique way and allows for a bezel in which both the top and bottom are narrower than the rest. The new Ressence Type 10 comes on a fitted deep-blue rubber strap that complements the case’s seamless design. It also works perfectly when you take the watch for a swim, as the Type 10 is water resistant to 50 meters.

A seamless, oil-filled dial

Of course, the new Type 10 features Ressence’s signature convex dial, which tells you the time with three inclined satellites. The main dial displays the minutes, the largest sub-dial shows the hours, and the smaller sub-dials display the running seconds and the second time zone. This time, the dial has no numerals, suiting the Type 10’s clean overall aesthetics. It does, however, have an indicator cutout inside the hour sub-dial. This display shows whether the oil inside the dial is at the right temperature, which is somewhere between 10 and 25 degrees Celsius.

The oil inside makes the dial as sharp as possible and eliminates any distortion. Thanks to this, the dial’s creases are almost invisible, making it look like a high-definition electronic display. Of course, this isn’t the first time Ressence has used oil in one of its watches, but it’s still quite extraordinary. If you’d like to know more, make sure to read my interview with Benoît Mintiens about these oil-filled Ressence models. In a nutshell, though, the watch has two chambers. Chamber one is the oil-filled dial, and chamber two, which contains the movement, is filled with air. The two interact through a set of nine micromagnets that transmit the movement’s energy to Ressence’s unique dials. The Type 10 also has an expansion membrane aboard to compensate for the oil’s expansion and contraction caused by temperature changes.

The new Ressence Work 04

As noted, the new Type 10 also houses Ressence’s second proprietary movement. The Ressence Work 04 (RW-04) comprises 252 components, including two barrels that together provide a power reserve of 60 hours. With the ROCS module, the Type 10 features eight ball bearings, 47 jewels, and 49 gears. The automatic RW-04 runs at 28,800 vph, and you can wind and set it via the watch’s case back, since there’s no conventional crown, of course.

First impressions of the Dark (K)Night

I haven’t seen the new Ressence Type 10 in person yet. However, I can imagine this futuristic-looking timepiece is quite an experience on the wrist. The seamless, streamlined design seems to fit the wrist perfectly, so I imagine it is quite comfortable. In addition, the combination of the fully polished case, the brushed bezel, and the super-sharp oil-filled dial has to be a real eye-catcher in the flesh. As you can see, I can’t wait to get my hands on the new Type 10 and see what it looks like in person.

I also really like the “Dark Night” nickname, as it also makes me think of Batman, the other Dark Knight. The reflections on that deep blue case could very well be inspired by Batman’s appearance. What do you think?

Limitation and pricing

The new Ressence Type 10 “Dark Night” is a limited edition of 100 pieces and costs CHF 45,000 excluding taxes. If you’d like to know more, make sure to check out the brand’s official website.

What do you think of Ressence’s new Type 10? Let me know in the comments below.