Introducing Ming x Massena Lab 57.09 'Secret Honey'

It's been five years since MING and Massena Lab released their first collaboration. In that time, both MING — the Malaysian-born microbrand founded by Ming Thein — and Massena Lab — the concept studio and curatorial brand created by collector William Massena — have grown and evolved somewhat dramatically, with MING having moved through several generations of iteration, and Massena having worked with a somewhat staggering number of brands. Now, with each brand having grown up quite a bit, they've come back together to announce the MING x Massena Lab 57.09 Secret Honey.

The new watch, built on MING's latest design platform, is a time-only watch that evokes ideas similar to the two brands' first collaborative effort half a decade ago, but updates them by bringing many of the tricks MING has developed over the last few years to the new watch. Put another way, this is still a honeycomb-dialled MING, just with a little more cheek. Here, MING has blended the honeycomb concept with their multi-layered "secret" dial to create something dynamic and fun, with a lot of the charm of mid-century favourites in an undeniably contemporary package.

Like so many MINGs, the dial here is multi-layered, with a dark brown lacquered base dial sitting below a trio of rotating sapphire discs, each of which rotates at a different rate. These three discs feature different patterns and finishes, with the bottom two layers finished in orange Super-LumiNova and MING's proprietary Polar White luminous material, respectively. The top disc is darker, not luminous, and plays into the "Secret" nature of the dial.

Floating hands and lumed numerals on the underside of the crystal finish out the dial, and the dial layout — with "MING" in place of the three o'clock marker, and "M Lab" in place of the nine o'clock marker — makes for one last clear nod to the earlier 17.09.

The case on the 57.09 Secret Honey is a 40mm take on the latest generation of MING cases. The watch is 10.17mm thick and 47.8mm lug-to-lug in grade 5 titanium, and is water-resistant to 100 meters. Like other recent watches from MING, the new watch has a concave bezel and triple stepped lugs, which have been accentuated with an interesting tri-colour finish. The effect is compelling, with the two inner lugs finished in a rose gold tone and a yellow gold tone. These colours echo in the caseband, which features thin bands of each colour as well.

Inside the watch is the Sellita for MING 330.M2, which is visible through an exhibition caseback and is largely finished, as you'd expect from Ming. The 57.09 comes with both a Jean Rousseau goat leather strap and a branded MING rubber strap, and the limited edition watch is priced at CHF 7,250. The 125-piece limited edition will be available exclusively on MING's website starting October 16th at midnight AEDT.

Look, I admit I'm slightly in the bag for MING. No one else is doing quite what they're doing, and anyone else trying hasn't managed to hit the same stride. To that end, my take on any MING watch has less to do with objective quality (which is pretty much a given at this point) and has far more to do with how a given watch happens to intersect with my taste on a random given day.

This watch seems to have struck me in the right spot. Its tri-colour case reminds me charmingly of Rolex Tridor watches, which I have a bizarre fondness for, and the rotating kaleidoscope dial is reminiscent of the Ernest Borel cocktail watches (a similarity the brand notes), which is a favourite of a lot of collectors. Basically, this watch is a nice blend of old-school inspiration and modern interpretation. To me, that's MING at its best.

Brand: MING
Model: MING x Massena Lab 57.09 Secret Honey
Reference Number: 57.09

Diameter: 40mm
Thickness: 10.17mm
Case Material: Grade 5 titanium
Dial Colour: Dark brown
Indexes: Luminous markers etched and filled on the underside of the crystal
Lume: Abundant!
Water Resistance: 100m
Strap/Bracelet: Jean Rousseau goat leather strap in Vachetta and a black MING-branded FKM rubber strap

Calibre: Sellita for MING 330.M2
Functions: Hours and minutes
Diameter: 26.2mm
Thickness: 4.1mm
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Jewels: 25
Chronometer Certified: No
Additional Details: Rotating discs that rotate at 24 hours, 12 hours, and 60 minutes, respectively

Price: CHF 7,250 (~A$12,500, NZ$15,500)
Availability: Directly through MING's website starting October 16th at midnight AEDT (October 15th 1 pm GMT)
Limited Edition: Yes, 125 pieces

For more, click here.