If you were around the micro/indie watch world in 2021, you almost certainly remember the release of the first Ming collaboration with Massena LAB. It was a limited edition that sold out incredibly fast (as most Ming releases did in those early days) and was notable for a few things beyond what I think is still an objectively cool design. First, this release came at the height of pandemic drop culture, and the quick sell through angered many Instagram commenters and there was a memorable backlash toward both brands (though I recall Ming taking the brunt of it). You could even argue that this release marked a sort of inflection point, and we began to see brands (including Ming) take steps with future releases to be more fair minded about how pieces are allocated. Second, when these watches eventually did make it to owners, there were a handful of notable and widely reported QC/mechanical issues (which of course were resolved by the brands, but still, not the cherry-on-top anyone was hoping for). Was the launch a catastrophe? Not really. Examples of these watches still routinely sell for well over retail on the secondary market. They’re one of a handful of releases from this era that really mark a specific moment in time. 

Ming and Massena are back with a second collaboration, at a time when both brands find themselves in a very different sort of situation. Which is just to say, there’s been a lot of growth in these last several years. When was the last time, for instance, you heard widespread griping about availability of a Ming release? They seem to have solved for the problem their insane early demand had by adjusting production numbers, their release schedule, and making certain models permanent and always available. Massena LAB has evolved as well, with more collaborations under their belt, and they formalized their relationship with Ming and other members of the Alternative Horological Alliance by entering into that group last year. 

The new watch, the Ming x Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey, is very much packaged as a sequel to the original 17.09 releases from 2021. Ming even playfully references the various mishaps with those releases in their press and marketing materials. The idea here seems to be to keep elements of the popular “honeycomb” motif but to challenge themselves with a far more complex design that reflects the growth of both brands. 

The centerpiece here is the dark brown lacquered dial which sits underneath a trio of sapphire discs, one rotating every 24 hours, another every 12 hours, and a third every 60 minutes. Each disc has a distinct color and pattern of small apertures, and when they rotate around one another a “honey” color and honeycomb pattern are gradually revealed, and then disappear and form again. The overlapping apertures are referred to by Ming as “dynamic guilloche,” which is a fun idea particularly if your interest in guilloche is in the way it seems to “move” on its own as it plays with the light. This is a literalization of a concept many of us have lived with in a subconscious way for years. 

The case is in Ming’s fifth-generation design language, which features their new triple-stepped lug design. It measures 40mm in diameter and is 10.17mm tall. The lug to lug measurement is 47.8mm. You’ll notice that this version of the case differs from previous executions when you take a close look at the lugs, which have been finished in three different colors. The outermost step on each lug is a natural uncoated titanium, the middle has a yellow gold hue, and the innermost lug has a rose gold tone. The idea with the lugs was to mirror the color palate of the dial and reflect the shifting tones of both. 

The new 57.09 Secret Honey is powered by the “Sellita for Ming” 330.M2 caliber, which is an automatic movement with 50 hours of power reserve on a full wind. As is the norm for Ming’s Sellita calibers, they’ve commissioned a bunch of custom aesthetic treatments, including skeletonized bridges and anthracite coatings. 

The Secret Honey is a limited run of 125 pieces, with a retail price of CHF 7.250. Orders open tomorrow, and the watch will be available to view over the weekend at WatchTime New York. Ming x Massena LAB