Conclusion
The Type 9 is clearly a winner for Ressence. It combines much of what made the Type 8 an exciting release with an easier-to-wear and perhaps more palatable design. It’s also simply attractive with a sci-fi, Ross Lovegrove-esque flair that is uncommon in today’s vintage-fueled market. Most of my main critiques are very subjective. The strap wasn’t to my liking, the weight belies its quality, and the bezel lacks marks for each minute. The strap is easy to remedy, and the weight is a perception issue, not a real one. The minute marks affect the watch’s readability, which opposes the design’s more practical elements but is also a matter of taste. This is hardly the only watch without them.
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The bigger concern is the 1ATM, or splash-resistant, rating. It’s hard to say what that means, but it doesn’t inspire confidence. Can you get caught in a downpour? Will the watch be ok if you suddenly need to run your arm under a faucet? If you forget it’s on and jump in a pool, did you just make an expensive mistake? At this point, I feel like minimum water resistance is 30m for a dress watch, 50m for something casual, and 100m+ for anything with sporty intentions. But, to be fair, this isn’t isolated to the Type 9; it’s the same for all Ressences except the Type 5, which is a dive watch. If this is an issue caused by the rotating case-back, I wonder if it’s worth the sacrifice.
One more concern, which is purely conceptual, is the Type 9’s positioning within the Ressence catalog. While the cases are wildly different, the dials of the Type 8 and 9 are very similar, making them feel more like variations on a “Type,” like the Type 1 round and square, than distinct models. Not only are they just minutes and hours, but they also have the same satin finish. While running seconds or some other function would have distinguished them further, it would have likely raised the price (which I will get to). So, at least visually, a different dial finish could have done the trick. To that end, I’d love to see the classic flat or radial brushing from the Type 1s on the Type 9. Of course, nothing is saying we won’t in the future.
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The Type 9 not only earned the badge of being the smallest Ressence, but it also took the title of being the least expensive. At 12,500 CHF, it’s 1,000 CHF less than the Type 8. In USD, that becomes $14,900 (based on one retailer’s pricing). So, it’s still expensive, but hey, it’s less than other models. That said, I think the sizing and styling of the Type 9, plus the “entry” price, will make it a very popular model. After my time with the Type 8, I concluded that I’d still go with the Type 1 if I were in the market for a Ressence. But with the Type 9, I’m not so sure. Ressence