Ressence meets Japanese lacquer in an eight-piece Type 9 IKE

Belgian independent Ressence has always treated the dial as something that moves rather than a flat plate beneath two hands. In the Type 9 IKE, created with Japanese artist Terumasa Ikeda, that distinction becomes the centre of an extraordinary artistic collaboration. Curving bands of coloured mother-of-pearl follow paths that suggest distant galaxies, electronic signals and tiny mechanical constellations.

Ikeda's process combines traditional urushi lacquer with raden, finely cut mother-of-pearl inlays. The artwork is painstakingly applied to the moving, convex surfaces of Ressence's Orbital Convex System, meaning that the patterns continuously change position as the watch tells time. The decoration was conceived for the mechanism itself rather than simply printed onto a conventional dial.

The design is deliberately limited to just eight pieces. A dark-coated titanium case, black strap and smooth domed crystal form a restrained frame for the complex luminous decoration. Viewed from afar, it feels like a futuristic object. At close range, it becomes a study in the physical labour needed to bring ancient craft onto an unusually shaped dial.

Introduced in February 2026, the Type 9 IKE is a telling example of Belgium's design-oriented independent watchmaking. The most compelling detail is not the scarcity, but the way time alters the artwork. The constantly orbiting discs ensure that the watch presents a different composition from one glance to the next.