For as long as we’ve talked about Ressence, part of the discussion has always been about how clever they are for producing such an ingenious and unique system for time telling, all built on top of a standard, off-the-shelf ETA movement. Their patented ROCS module, which displays the time via a series of rotating discs rather than traditional hands, is a complicated piece of engineering that has always lived alongside a caliber that is rather ordinary. For me, and many others, this was always part of the charm of a Ressence watch, and underscored the idea that watchmaking is a broad discipline and that with some creativity even a simple ETA movement can be turned into something extraordinary.
That changes a little today with the introduction of the Ressence Type 11, featuring the all new RW-01 movement, the first in-house designed Ressence movement. Designed specifically to power the ROCS, the RW-01 is an integrated, automatic caliber that appears to be an improvement in just about every way over previous movements found in Ressence watches.
First and perhaps most notably, this movement has a 60 hour power reserve, which can be monitored on the dial via ceramic micro balls. For years, Ressence watches have featured power reserves that topped out at slightly less than the ETA movements they were based on due to the demands of running the ROCS module. But the RW-01 was designed from the ground up to work with ROCS, eliminating many of the compromises made with previous efforts. One of those is the elimination of the so-called “winding zone” that Ressence owners will be familiar with. Previously, winding and setting your Ressence was an unusually tactile experience and a bit finicky. We’re told that with the new RW-01, manual winding can be done via the caseback with no restrictions.
Being a design oriented brand, it’s not surprising that given the opportunity, Ressence has created a movement that is an aesthetic mirror for their distinctive dials. Ressence partnered with a specialist Swiss movement maker to be a deliberate departure from a standard movement in terms of its architecture. It has a unique triangular structure that prominently features two mainspring barrels and the balance wheel, creating a visual motif of shapes within shapes that has been a hallmark of Ressence design codes from the very beginning.
I think it’s to the credit of Ressence that the watch itself is not a significant departure from what we’ve come to expect from the brand. It must be tempting for some brands to design an outlandish watch to debut a special movement, but Ressence seems to understand that their design language speaks for itself, and that a classic representation of the Ressence aesthetic the most appropriate choice for the Type 11. To that end, we have a Grade 5 titanium case for the Type 11 that measures 41mm in diameter and 11mm tall in a pebble-like shape. Dials are available in three colorways at launch: Pine, Sky, and Latte (green, blue, and beige). Each dial displays hours, minutes, seconds, and features the new Ressence power reserve indication.
The new Ressence Type 11 will be available beginning in May. The retail price is CHF 23,000. Ressence
Zach Kazan
2026-04-07 14:00:00