The name RESSENCE is a neologism assimilating the words renaissance and essence.
Renaissance stands for the rebirth of what is essential to a watch, to display time.
RESSENCE brings a contemporary evolution of time representation using the same
universal cognitive patterns learned to read time on a traditional watch.

The logo of RESSENCE represents a universal symbol of humanism, the hand.
The hand is oriented horizonally; like a hand that is reaching out. The watch as a product is sending out a strong message about the mindset of the owner.
The hand is also the icon of the world harbour city Antwerp, the origin of RESSENCE. According to ancient tales, Antwerpen would be a neologism of ANT and WERPEN.  ANT would come for hand and WERPEN means throwing in dutch. The legend says that 3000 years ago their was a giant called Druon Antigoon. He was so tall that he would stand with one foot on every bank of the river Scheldt. Sailors and merchants had no other choice than to give money to be allowed to navigate …
On a product level, a RESSENCE dial has given a contemorary interpretation of
what has alway been considered as a dogma is watchmaking, the hands of the dial.

The avant-garde design distinguishes itself through minimalism and timelessness, to approximate the archetype of a watch, emphasising on its main purpose, to display time.
The watch case has a diameter of 42mm and a thickness of about 13 mm and has no beezle.
The time-module is partly mounted inside the sapphire glasses that are flush mounted with the watch case. The outer shape of the watch feels soft like a pebble.

Every profession has his point of view on subjects and will develop evaluation criteria according to it. This is not different for watchmakers, marketeers or bankers.
For example, a mechanical engeneer is more likely to prioratise the mechanical aspect of a product. When confronted to a choice he will probably use technical parameters to evaluate and compare options.

The mindset of an industrial designer is to adopt a methodology that guarantees a holistic approach considering the end user as the ultimate evaluation criteria.
An industrial designer will use a wide range of specifications to define the evaluation criteria. He will consider the mechanical aspect, the ergonomomics or style as equal. Combining a wide range of parameters, finding synergies where others don’t in a creative way and in a dogma-free context is the added value of industrial designers.

The RESSENCE dial is the result of this holistic thinking methode.
The origin of the dial concept has been the observation that reading time on hand dials, when trained, is faster than reading digits. The human brain has developped cognitive paterns that translate an image projected by the position of the hands into time conception. This knowledge has become universal. Even more than for languages, reading time with hands has become a ‘world knowledge heritage’.

Benoit Mintiens 1972

Master in Industrial Design
Master in Business Administration
Consultant in Industrial Design since 1998. (enthoven associates)
Founding RESSENCE in 2009.
Introduction of RESSENCE to the 2010 BaselWorld show with 3 functional prototypes