Ressence has always treated the dial as something more fluid than a flat surface with hands attached.
With the Type 9 x Jules Wittock, the Belgian independent watchmaker gives that idea a sharper artistic edge, turning its lightest and most compact watch into a kinetic maze that changes as the time display moves.
The collaboration pairs Ressence’s orbital display with the work of Belgian contemporary artist Jules Wittock, whose freehand labyrinths often hide a message inside their winding paths.
At a glance
- Ressence has unveiled the Type 9 x Jules Wittock, a limited Art Watch built around a moving maze dial.
- The artwork is milled into the titanium dial and integrated into Ressence’s ROCS 9 orbital time display.
- The watch is limited to 30 pieces in emerald green and 30 in black, priced at CHF 20,000 excluding tax.
A compact Type 9 becomes the canvas
Founded in 2010 by industrial designer Benoît Mintiens, Ressence built its reputation on a display system that feels closer to a small mechanical universe than a conventional watch dial.
The brand’s patented Ressence Orbital Convex System, known as ROCS, moves the indications around the dial like satellites, replacing the familiar stack of central hands with a constantly shifting arrangement.
The Type 9 is especially well suited to this kind of artistic intervention.
At 39mm wide and 11mm thick, it’s currently the most compact, lightest and most streamlined model in the Ressence catalogue, with a grade 5 titanium case and a total weight of just 42 grams including the strap.
Unlike some earlier Ressence designs, the Type 9 places the minute track on a fixed external bezel, clearing space on the dial for a more expressive visual treatment.
It also uses short exposed lugs and a crownless architecture, with winding and setting handled through the caseback.
That absence of a crown keeps the profile clean and allows the watch to be worn on either wrist without ergonomic compromise.
Jules Wittock’s maze in motion
Wittock’s contribution isn’t simply printed across the dial as decoration.
His maze pattern is milled directly into the convex titanium dial, then filled by hand with white lacquer and Grade A Super-LumiNova.
Because the artwork is integrated into the revolving discs of the ROCS 9 display, the maze continually breaks apart and reassembles as the hours and minutes progress.
The result is a more literal expression of Ressence’s long-running idea of art in motion.
There are two versions of the watch, one with a black dial and one with an emerald green-coated dial.
The green version has a shifting quality that can move toward purple depending on the viewing angle, adding another layer of visual instability to an already animated surface.
On both models, the hour and minute hands are lacquered white, while the hour hand carries the maze pattern into its tip.
The chapter ring is kept lean, with Arabic numerals at 3 and 9 o’clock, indices, and the Ressence hand logo at noon.
Wittock’s maze also extends conceptually to the fixed bezel, where small “In” and “Out” signs appear among the five-minute markings.
For anyone inclined to solve the labyrinth, the watch reserves its most theatrical moment for midnight, when the luminous hour and minute hands align to reveal the hidden message embedded in the artwork.
The ROCS 9 display and its mechanical base
The Type 9 x Jules Wittock is powered by the ROCS 9 module, driven by the minute axle of a customised ETA automatic 2892 base calibre.
The movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a 36-hour power reserve.
In use, the domed main dial makes one full rotation every hour, bringing the long pointer hand around the fixed external minutes scale.
The smaller hour disc completes its own revolution every twelve hours, following the minute indication in the kind of slow mechanical choreography that defines Ressence’s approach to time.
The display remains deliberately restrained, showing only hours and minutes.
That simplicity matters here, because it lets the maze carry the emotional and visual weight of the watch without competing with extra complications.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Ressence |
|---|---|
| Model | Type 9 x Jules Wittock |
| References | TYPE 9 JWB black dial, TYPE 9 JWE emerald green |
| Case size | 39mm diameter, 11mm thickness |
| Case material | Grade 5 titanium or black DLC-coated grade 5 titanium |
| Weight | 42g including strap |
| Crystal | Domed sapphire crystal with internal anti-reflective coating |
| Water resistance | 10m splash-resistant only |
| Dial | Convex titanium dial in emerald green or black with engraved Jules Wittock maze pattern |
| Lume | Grade A Super-LumiNova on indications and maze |
| Display | ROCS 9 revolving hours and minutes |
| Movement | ROCS 9 module driven by a customised ETA automatic 2892 base |
| Frequency | 28,800vph, 4Hz |
| Power reserve | 36 hours |
| Strap | White calfskin for emerald green model, black strap for black model |
| Buckle | Titanium ardillon buckle |
| Limited edition | 30 pieces in emerald green and 30 pieces in black |
| Price | CHF 20,000 excluding tax |
A limited Art Watch with real mechanical purpose
Ressence’s Art Watch projects work best when the artwork and the display system depend on each other, rather than merely sharing space.
The Type 9 x Jules Wittock succeeds because the maze needs movement to fully come alive, while the Type 9’s pared-back construction gives that movement room to breathe.
For collectors drawn to independent watchmaking, contemporary art, and unconventional time displays, this is one of the more focused expressions of Ressence’s orbital language.
