History has shown that timepieces introduced at the Only Watch auction can be split into two categories: demonstrative and figurative. Demonstrative watches are designed to showcase technical or artistic mastery, revealing a specific talent, watchmaking ingenuity, or a novel complication. Figurative watches, on the other hand, focus on imagery, symbolism and a poetic sensibility. Ressence belongs firmly in the latter category.
Neither is inherently superior to the other; they simply reflect different approaches. Interestingly, the symbolic approach is often more challenging to execute. As Alexandre Péraldi, former designer at Baume & Mercier, once said, “It is much more difficult to design a beautiful, original and perfectly finished watch priced at CHF 2,000 than a grand complication with no limits on budget or time.”
This rings true for the young, 100% independent watchmaker Ressence, founded in 2010, which enjoys neither an unlimited budget nor unlimited time. But these constraints served as rocket fuel to the creativity of Benoît Mintiens, the Belgian brand’s founder. An industrial designer by training, he had to find a clever, original and creative theme to enter the sale, which takes place in Geneva on 10 May. The result is a testament to his talent: ingenious, original, disconcerting, and so simple that it’s a wonder no one had thought of it before.
Rotating DNA
The idea revolves around the familiar “ladder” structure of DNA, with its multiple rungs in twisting strands. The Type 12 features a fragment of this design on its dial – or rather, dials. The central concept of a Ressence watch is that each display (hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve) is given its own dedicated dial, all in constant rotation. This is where the DNA idea truly shines: the vast “X” that stretches uninhibitedly across the four dials is a prisoner of their motion, fragmenting and scattering, only to realign perfectly once each week, every Sunday at midnight.
Ephemeral delight
The idea of fleeting alignment is not new. Austrian watchmaker Carl Süchy & Söhne made it the trademark of its inaugural Waltz collection, which has the small seconds guilloché lining up with the rest of the dial once every minute.
With the Type 12, greater patience is needed, since the alignment occurs only once a week. But the approach itself provides the key to the link with medical research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the raison d’être of Only Watch. The message is clear: long-term effort and patience will be needed, but the reward will come eventually.
