A watch without hands has long been Ressence’s calling card. With the Type 10 DN, presented on October 16 at WatchTime New York, the Antwerp house finally pairs its signature oil-filled display with a movement of its own design: 100 pieces in deep-blue titanium, at CHF 45,000 before taxes.
Shopping pre-loved? Discover authenticated pre-owned luxury, including pieces from houses such as Rolex, Cartier and Hermès, from What Goes Around Comes Around at Amazon Luxury Stores, a resale boutique that backs its pieces with its own authenticity guarantee. (Affiliate link: as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.)
At a glance
- Watch: Ressence Type 10 DN (“Dark Night”), limited to 100 pieces.
- Price: CHF 45,000 excluding taxes, about $48,260 according to WatchTime; confirm with Ressence.
- Case: 41.5mm polished Grade 5 titanium with a dark blue hard DLC coating, 82 grams, water resistant to 5 ATM.
- Movement: the in-house automatic RW-04 driving the oil-filled ROCS 10 module, 538 components, 60-hour power reserve.
- Why it matters: the first oil-filled Ressence powered by the brand’s own movement.
- Availability: from November 2026.
What is the Ressence Type 10 DN?
The Type 10 DN is a time-only watch with a second time zone, built around one idea Ressence has pursued since its founding: that a dial should read like a single, seamless surface rather than a stack of hands, numerals and markers. Its 41.5mm case is polished Grade 5 titanium finished in a dark blue hard DLC, a colour that runs, uninterrupted, from case to dial to the integrated rubber strap. Double-domed sapphire crystals close the front and back, and the whole watch weighs 82 grams, light enough, as WatchTime notes, to be designed for everyday wear.
The bezel is a quiet piece of craft in its own right: 24 titanium segments alternate between sandblasted inserts filled with luminous material and linearly brushed surfaces, the direction of the brushing turning 30 degrees from one segment to the next. In low light, the bezel glows softly around the dial.
How does the oil-filled display work?
Ressence’s display, which it calls ROCS, replaces hands with rotating discs. A convex minutes disc turns as a whole, carrying three smaller eccentric “satellites” that show the hours, the second time zone and a 120-second runner, according to Monochrome Watches. The upper chamber holds 2.95 ml of silicone-based oil. Because the oil removes the internal reflections that normally separate a dial from its crystal, the discs appear to sit directly beneath the sapphire, an effect that, in our view, is the most persuasive argument for the whole concept.
Oil and gear trains do not mix, so the two halves of the watch never touch. The air-filled lower chamber houses the movement; a magnetic transmission carries its motion through the case to the module in oil. Oil expands with heat, and a temperature indicator shows whether it is within its operating range. Winding and setting are done from the caseback.
Why is the RW-04 movement the real news?
Until now, Ressence’s oil-filled watches, including the Type 3, Type 5 and Type 7, ran on an ETA base movement topped by the brand’s module. Its first proprietary calibre, the RW-01, arrived in the Type 11 earlier this year, but that watch is air-filled. The Type 10 DN brings the two strands together for the first time. The RW-04 is a self-winding, double-barrel calibre designed by Ressence and produced by Concepto, described by Monochrome as an evolution of the RW-01. Together with the ROCS 10 module, the watch counts 538 components, 47 jewels and 49 gears, beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour and stores 60 hours of power. Ressence’s own press page describes it simply as “the first oil-filled Ressence with our in-house movement RW-04.”
How much does the Ressence Type 10 DN cost, and where can you buy it?
The price is CHF 45,000 excluding taxes, which WatchTime converts to about $48,260; U.S. retail will depend on taxes and the exchange rate at the time of purchase. Deliveries are listed from November 2026, and the edition is capped at 100 pieces. Enquiries go through Ressence directly or its appointed retailers; the official Type 10 page is the best starting point. Confirm current pricing and allocation with the brand.
A short history of Ressence
Ressence was founded in Antwerp in 2010 by Benoît Mintiens, and introduced its first prototypes at Baselworld that year. From the start, the brand’s thinking began with how a watch is read and worn. The breakthrough came in 2013 with the Type 3, which sealed its display in oil and won the Horological Revelation Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. In 2015, the Type 5 diver used the same principle for a practical end: underwater, the oil removes total internal reflection, so the dial stays legible from any angle.
For more than a decade, the brand’s genius sat on top of a borrowed engine. Developing its own movements is the step that turns a remarkable display into a complete watch, and the Type 10 DN is where that work and the oil finally meet. WatchTime ties the design to Mintiens’s long-held idea that objects evolve through integration, with parts combining and needless weight falling away.
For years the oil was the marvel and the movement was borrowed. The Type 10 DN is the first Ressence in which both belong to the house.
The Carat Post
For the collector
- Price and edition: CHF 45,000 before taxes, about $48,260 at the time of writing, in an edition of 100 pieces. Ask your retailer for the final U.S. price including tax.
- Availability: deliveries from November 2026. With 100 pieces worldwide, register interest early with Ressence or an appointed retailer.
- What drives value: a first, namely the first oil-filled Ressence with an in-house movement, plus a small edition and a complete set with box and papers. Resale prices for independent watches vary widely, and past prices do not predict future value.
- What to ask before buying: service intervals and where an oil-filled module is serviced, since this is specialist work, and how the caseback winding and setting system works day to day.
- Try it on: at 41.5mm the case reads larger than its 82 grams suggest; WatchTime New York runs through Sunday, October 18, at Gotham Hall. Our guide to the show lists the other pieces worth seeing.
Our view
In our view, the Type 10 DN is the most coherent Ressence yet. The unbroken blue, the light case and the luminous bezel make it look effortless, but the substance lies underneath: the brand now controls both halves of its most distinctive watch. It sits naturally beside the other independents rethinking how time is displayed, from Urwerk’s UR-300 Time Quantum to the hand-finished pieces now commanding attention at auction, such as the Voutilainen 28Sport sold at Phillips New York.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Ressence Type 10 DN?
CHF 45,000 excluding taxes, about $48,260 at the time of writing. It is limited to 100 pieces; confirm current pricing with Ressence.
Why is the Ressence Type 10 DN filled with oil?
The oil removes internal reflections, so the rotating discs look as if they sit directly under the crystal and stay legible from wide angles. The movement itself sits in a separate, air-filled chamber.
What movement does the Type 10 DN use?
The in-house automatic RW-04, a double-barrel calibre with a 60-hour power reserve, linked magnetically to the ROCS 10 display module.
When is the Ressence Type 10 DN available?
From November 2026, through Ressence and its appointed retailers.
Sources: WatchTime · Monochrome Watches · Ressence press · Ressence Type 10 · Wikipedia, Ressence
