Today’s guest is someone who thinks differently about the watch and the watch industry; none other than the founder of Ressence, Benoît Mintiens. Benoît is an industrial designer who has worked on trains, planes, and firearms. As a generalist at an industrial design consultancy, Benoît had the opportunity to work on so many different products and projects that have inspired and influenced his design language at Ressence. 

Benoît is not a watchmaker. He is an industrial designer, and this has given him fresh eyes on the watch. He took away the crown, the hands, and the dial. He wanted to find an organic way to tell time that is intuitive, and would be a product that would be designed today if no watches existed prior to Ressence. 

He is incredibly passionate about watchmaking, considers every watch a miracle, and is a humble and interesting guy who clearly thinks deeply about design. I hope you enjoyed the show, please leave me a rating, refer a friend, and consider signing up for my newsletter. 

You can find Ressence at: https://ressencewatches.com/

Time callouts:

• 2:30 - Design, Benoît’s Background, and design

• 7:00 - The Development of Ressence

• 10:00 - Case Design philosophy, making something that feels natural and like it is a part of you. 

• 14:07 - Completely redesigning a watch for the 21st century

• 15:00 You can always evolve and get better 

• 17:54 - How you define independent watchmaking & influences

• 20:45- Respect for other watchmakers because you go through the same trials and tribulations and why comparison between independent watchmakers and industrialized brand is not realistic

• 24:53 - How long is the design process for a new Ressence product?

• 27:00 - Why additive manufacturing (3D Printing) will not be the savior of the watchmaking industry

• 33:39 - The problem with consulting, and using his creativity in a recurring way

• 39:00 - Designing a watch and the relationship between wearer and watch.

• 44:00 - A Product that Benoît would like to design

• 52:00 - Succession planning and the future of Ressence

• 56:00 Rapid Fire Round