An audacious electro-mechanical concept promises a mechanical watch that will always “remember” the right time, even after the power reserve runs down. Better yet, it will automatically adjust itself for accuracy while it’s running. Has Ressence reinvented the wristwatch…again"

By Alex Doak

The term ?electro-mechanical? has the ability to strike wariness in the heart of any horological purist. From Seiko?s unnecessarily high-end Spring Drive hybrid (joined briefly by Piaget?s now-dropped Coussin XL 700P) to Urwerk?s extraordinarily top-end EMC, it generally serves to sterilise the prospect rather than enhance.
While still at concept stage for now, visitors to the Ressence stand at next week?s SIHH event in Geneva may well come away with a renewed acceptance of digital?s encroachment on the inherently analogue, thanks to a brave new bid for electro-mechanical relevance: the e-Crown. There?s a lot to take in (which the refreshingly detailed component imagery does much to clarify), but it boils down to a digital ?interface? linking a mechanical movement with the display, all wrapped up (for now) in Ressence?s flying-saucer-for-the-wrist Type 2 ? a ludicrously futuristic design of planetary hour, minute and second subdials.

Crown-less in the conventional sense, once you?ve set the time using a flip-out lever on the caseback, an electro-motive module forms a new layer between the base ETA automatic movement and the proprietary Ressence O...