Hands-On With Ressence’s New Type 1° Round Multicolour — Serious Colorful Fun On The Wrist

It may not seem like it for those engrossed in the watch hobby, but most of the watches out there are quite monochromatic. Often, dials are just black or white, and occasionally, a shade of blue might show up. The times that you’ll find a dial of a different color on someone’s wrist are quite rare, let alone a multicolored dial. Black and white (or silver) are the safe havens here, and when a watch brand uses a certain color, there’s a big risk of not getting it right. Well, that’s certainly not the case with the colorful new Ressence Type 1° Round Multicolour.

The Belgian brand already showed us in the past that it isn’t afraid to use a bit of color. Moreover, recent releases like the eucalyptus-green Type 3, the sage-green Type 8, and the yellow Type 5 all show that Ressence is actually very good at using color on its watches. And while all those pieces mainly featured one color, the Type 1 Slim in collaboration with Alain Silberstein was a masterclass on using multiple colors on one watch. Now, with the introduction of this new Type 1° Round Multicolour, it looks like Benoît Mintiens, the brand’s founder and designer, has truly embraced the multicolor design. And spoiler alert: this might be my favorite Ressence design to date.

The Type 1° Round Multicolour

In March of this year, Ressence launched the new generation of its Type 1. It has a 42.7mm case, which is made out of Grade 5 titanium. Its shape is reminiscent of those perfectly rounded and soft-feeling pebbles you can find on the banks of a river. Connected to the case on each side are very unobtrusive and elegant wire-like lugs. They’re simply there to hold on to the strap. And just like that clean case, they don’t distract your attention from the real star of the show — the orbital dial that makes Ressence watches so unique.

Like most of the brand’s watches, the Type 1° Round Multicolour is powered by a highly modified ETA 2892 automatic movement. On top of it is Ressence’s patented ROCS 1.3 module, which allows for its very atypical dial configuration. The movement runs at a 28,800vph frequency and holds a power reserve of 36 hours. The whole construction features an impressive number of 40 jewels and 27 gears to keep everything in orbit. Instead of a crown on the side of the case, the Type 1° Round Multicolour has a lever on the back. You can use that to set the time and wind the watch simultaneously.

Multicolour with a capital “M”

The Ressence Orbital Convex System is already unique in itself. But the Type 1° Round Multicolour’s real unique feature here is, of course, the popping dial. It all starts with an ever-so-light gray color on the main dial plate. This serves as a blank canvas for the red, yellow, and green circles that dance around each other, indicating the day of the week, running seconds, and hours, respectively. Finally, the blue minute track on the edge of the dial keeps it all together. The tones of the chosen colors on the matte dial are most definitely saturated, but they’re not in your face. They perfectly complement each other and don’t feel childish or cheap at all. Oh no, this is a very sophisticated multicolored watch.

But that’s not all. When you get a little closer, you’ll notice that even all the tips of the dark gray pointers have a little touch of color. They’re like little magic wands.

Speaking of magic, would you just look at how the dial presents itself in the dark? How cool is that?! After all, what’s a multicolor watch without multicolor lume? Even at night, you can perfectly distinguish the sub-dials from each other, so you’ll still be able to tell people exactly what time and day of the week it is. The rubber strap suits the more informal vibe of the Type 1° Round Multicolour, and its light gray tone matches the dial’s background color very well.

A fan favorite

I’ve covered several Ressence releases in the previous months. That’s because I’m a fan of the brand’s playful take on displaying the time on our wrists. I simply enjoy looking at all the different design iterations that Benoît comes up with. After my short time with the Type 1° Round Multicolour, I feel that this iteration does it better than any previous Ressence watch. The perfectly chosen hues make the unique dial design stand out even more than it already did. They also reinforce the playful character of the design. At the same time, however, the watch still makes you feel like you’re dealing with a very high-quality luxury timepiece.

The vibrant Type 1° Round Multicolour will become available this winter for CHF 16,800 (excluding taxes). I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I feel that Ressence’s prices are quite stiff. That’s mainly because I’m also not used to spending that kind of money on one watch. However, the brand’s watches are refreshingly special objects that stand out in an often-monotonous market. And with playful, colorful designs like the Type 1° Round Multicolour, they climb higher and higher up my wish list.

For more information on the Ressence Type 1° Round Multicolour, please visit the official Ressence website.

Let me know what you think of this new release from Ressence in the comments below.