Iconoclastic Belgian boutique-er, Ressence has unveiled its latest artist collaboration – a dizzying vortex-like dial in collaboration with German sculptor-painter Daniel Engelberg. And it might just be the brand’s most synergistic partnership to date.
Ressence, with its oil-flooded dial, moving subdials and regulator-style layout has consistently challenged perceptions about how a watch should look and function. Similarly, Engelberg uses his art to investigate questions of what we perceive as art. At first glance his brightly hued, almost childlike creations appear to be abstract paintings.
It is only when looked at closer it becomes apparent that they are constructed pictures made from insulating and building materials. Engleberg deliberately chooses materials that are deemed purely functional to ask us to consider what we consider art or artistic. For this latest Ressence, Engelberg has adapted the candy-coloured wormholes of his “Inside Out” series, which, combined with Ressence’s “limitless” dial, creates a dynamic visual effect. “For the first time, I have a work of art that is animated,” Engelberg says. “Seeing my design in constant motion on a Ressence watch, drawing the eye into an illusionistic depth, is truly special. It’s as if the art comes alive every minute.”
This Type 8 comes in two versions both limited to 40 pieces. A gradated turquoise (DE2) and one with a pop of pink (DE1) on the outer ring with complementary rubber straps and a leather option for a more formal look. “It is a perfect example of two universes working together organically,” says Ressence’s founder, industry-designer by-trade and general polymath Benoît Mintiens.
“Here the dial and Daniel’s painting speak the exact same graphic language, an organic geometry that feels meant to be.”
Ressence Type 8 Daniel Engelberg available from August; CHF19,000; ressencewatches.com