There is no watch like the Ressence Type 5 replica as it tradition of manufacturing the world’s first and still only oil-filled mechanical watches replica. The replica watch has a sleek gray dial with a polished and micro-blasted titanium finish, joining the titanium and black DLC variants released previously.
“Diver-esque” because while we’d be daft for suggesting this as a watch replica actually purpose-built for getting wet, it does borrow some design cues from actual dive watches (like the seamlessly integrated unidirectional rotating bezel), is markedly legible in low light, and carries 100m of water resistance. That water-resistance rating is thanks in part to its oil-filled case which reinforces the sapphire viewing window at depths, negating the need for thicker or steeper angled glass. The end result is a strikingly integrated aesthetic, whose uniform, gentle curvature is punctuated by the absence of a crown (instead of using a crown, the fake watch is wound and set by rotating the control disc set into the caseback).
This curvature combined with the oil-filled case create the Ressence signature: crazy-sharp legibility even at steep viewing angles, and underwater – should you plan on getting this thing wet in the first place. Fans of the few oil-filled watches replica out there (the quartz-powered Sinn UX and Bell & Ross Hydromax, respectively) already know that it’s an aesthetic that must be seen in person to be appreciated – as the hands and the rest of the dial appear to be suspended in a crisp, three-dimensional digital display.
All told, the cheap copy Ressence Type 5 adheres to a series of five other micromechanical and design principles in addition to ROCS – physical innovations, really, all of which are still grounded in the realm of haute horology. They include signatures like an anti-magnetic membrane shielding the movement, the crown-less design, and the inert oil-filled case which uses a complex bellows system to prevent bubbles from appearing in the oil when the case changes temperature. And while all of these principles generally apply to other watches in the Ressence stable, the fake Ressence Type 5 gets a specially-developed hydraulic shock-absorber. It is a dive watch, after all.
