Whilst many independent watchmakers explore alternative ways of reading time, Ressence is considered by many collectors to have one of the most innovative yet legible displays. It is always refreshing when a young brand arrives on the market with new ideas that can change our perception of the way time should be read. Arguably, the first “timepiece” – the sun dial – had no hands either.

Brainchild of Belgian designer Benoît Mintiens, the brand debuted at Baselworld in 2010 where three functional Swiss-made prototypes were presented. A year later, a limited edition of 50 pieces of the Series Zero was offered and in 2012, based on the success of this first limited edition, Ressence introduced the SeriesOne, a limited edition of 150 pieces. The present SeriesOne Type 1004 is numbered 14, and fitted with a light grey titanium dial.

Unprecedented even in 2010, instead of having a dial on which hands would rotate, it is the entire structure of the dial that moves with 4 independent subdials to display hours, minutes, seconds and AM/PM. Another distinctive feature of the very early references is the presence of a crown on the side of the case, which would disappear in later generations. The current example is offered with its original owner's manual and presentation box.