19.01

MING 19.01: Transparency without compromise

The MING 19.01 embodies our company’s philosophy of transparency without compromise. It is the result of asking ourselves to consider what we would want in a versatile and unique daily wearer, without limitations on imagination.

The 19.01’s design carries both art-deco design cues and a minimalist, modern aesthetic. It is a minimal but sophisticated showcase around the Schwarz-Etienne MSE 100.1 movement, in an exclusive execution for MING. It offers 100h power reserve from double barrels running in parallel for high torque and consistent timekeeping, with regulation in five positions. Upper bridges are skeletonized for visual depth, anglaged, and finished in bead blasted anthracite for a contemporary feel.  Additionally, barrel covers are also openworked to easily determine state of wind.

A new coating process was developed with our partners to create a sapphire dial with gradated color and opacity. It transitions from complete transparency at the edges to a deep, opaque blue at the center for both legibility and to hint at mechanical complexity beneath. It is intentionally reminiscent of the luster of dark enamel; the dial itself does not carry antireflective coating, though both surfaces of the front and rear external crystals do.

The case is rigid and eschews spacer rings. We chose to use grade 5 titanium for color, durability, and thermal conductivity (wearing comfort). Our signature flared lugs carry an internal scallop and the same alternate brushed-polished finish as the case to provide a visually continuous transition between bezel and deep-box sapphire crystals. All markings on both crystals are laser etched into the sapphire and not printed.

Our intention was to make the 19.01 a continuously changing visual experience. Color, weight and transparency continually shift with changes in light to create tension between depth, solidity and ethereality. This continues under low light conditions with a distinctive luminous signature enabled by Super-LumiNova X1 on internal bezel and hands.

The 19.01 is the product of collaboration between our partners and the collector-enthusiast founders of MING. It carries the fastidious attention to detail of a Ming Thein design; execution and movement by Schwarz-Etienne in La Chaux-de-Fonds; quick release straps handmade by Jean Rousseau Paris and a handmade travel pouch by Thirtyfour in Kuala Lumpur.

We believe the watch both occupies a new horological niche and offers a unique price-value proposition. Thank you in advance for your consideration for the Petit Aiguille prize of 2018.