Benoît Mintiens and Mohammed Abdulmagied Seddiqi went into the desert together to gather the sand that fills this dial, sourced from each of the seven Emirates.
Ressence introduces the TYPE 9 S75, limited to 20 pieces and made with Ahmed Seddiqi, the UAE's watch and jewellery retailer, to mark its 75th anniversary.
The dial is a titanium dome, bonded with real sand gathered in equal parts from the dunes of all seven Emirates, so its texture and colour shift with the light. A single hand reads the hours, and the bezel itself marks the minutes, Ressence's usual way of showing time without a conventional dial. The case is 39mm across in polished titanium, and the finished watch weighs 40 grams, Ressence's lightest to date.
“This watch stands at the crossroads between the ancient hourglass, the organic dome of the dial echoing the texture of dunes, and the regional origin of the piece, symbolised by a blend of sand gathered from all seven Emirates,” says Benoît Mintiens, founder of Ressence.
It is a small watch that carries a large idea: time, and a place, held together by grains of sand.
The Basics
Brand: Ressence
Model: TYPE 9 S75
Diameter: 39mm
Thickness: 11mm
Case material: Polished Grade 5 titanium
Dial: Convex Grade 5 titanium, sand-bonded with sand from the dunes of all seven Emirates; engraved indications filled with green Grade A Super-LumiNova
Water resistance: 1 ATM splash-resistance
Strap: Camel leather (20/18mm); polished Grade 5 titanium ardillon buckle
Limited edition: 20 pieces
The Movement
Calibre: ROCS 9 (Ressence Orbital Convex System) module, on a customised automatic base calibre
Functions: Hours, minutes
Winding: Self-winding, rotating in two directions
Power reserve: 36 hours
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
Jewels: 31
Images courtesy of Ressence.