35mm, Tantalum, Vintage Piguet Movement… The MING 21.01 “Project 21” Strikes Hard

Watches, like most products from industrial activities, are ruled by constraints and compromises – whether these are commercial, technological, design-oriented or economical. This is why we, watch enthusiasts, can often be rather disappointed by many new releases. Surely, independent watchmakers playing in a much higher price range can overpass some of these constraints, as a higher budget certainly helps in minimising compromise. Well, sometimes. What Ming Thein, founder of the MING brand and renowned photographer, had to deal with was another challenge… how would a watch designed entirely for himself, within feasible limits, but free of any other constraints look? That was the question of a group of collectors. The answer is here: the MING 21.01 “Project 21” and its rather unusual list of specifications…

In 2023, Ming Thein was hosting a dinner in Singapore, and this question regarding a watch entirely designed for himself was asked to him. Could something like that ever be made? And would he make an edition for the collectors at the dinner, ready to become the sponsors of the upcoming Project 21 watch? Ming, despite his creativity and sheer passion for watches, knew that there are limits to everything they do – commercial, technical, and economic constraints that must be taken into account. For instance, you can’t have a bespoke, extra-flat, hand-finished movement in an entry-level piece. And to the question “what if,” there are internal decisions too… Ming says that “there are designs that are cool but perhaps do not make sense from a commercial standpoint – usually they’re just too niche or quirky – but they carry a lot of personal appeal to me.”

So what was his answer to this group of collectors? “Knowing that I would inevitably need to make accommodations to the laws of physics and manufacturing, I decided to shoot for the stars and see where we landed,” he explains. And yet, without the capability to show a meaningful, final design before asking for commitment, ten brave fans of the brand trusted Ming and committed to a horological omakase: a watch with a price cap, an estimated delivery date and a movement new to the brand, but no other details provided. Bold but exhilarating.

So what did Ming Thein decide to do? This rather unusual, far from conventional and bizarrely spec-ed Ming 21.01. A watch that isn’t meant to please the masses but to bring something unique, personal and, yet, quite stunning for seasoned watch enthusiasts. Ming wanted a small watch with an ultra-thin profile made from a rare but praised metal. And before anything else, he wanted a small and ultra-thin movement, specifically the Frederic Piguet Calibre 21 – a movement created in 1925, one of the thinnest movements ever made – 1.75mm in thickness – and one of the longest produced. This movement has been, under different names, used by Patek, AP, VC, JLC, IWC, Blancpain, Cartier and others.

Old movements have been sourced, modified and reworked by Mathis Horlogerie and TitAl SA for MING. The 20mm calibre with a 38h power reserve has been redesigned and finished to a whole different level. It now features a skeletonized titanium train bridge with jewels in chatons, and sandblasted surfaces with polished anglage. This movement beats at 3Hz and displays the hours and minutes. For the standard version available for the public, the movement has been coated in 5N gold, matching the dial.

Such a small movement “only makes sense in a proportionally sized watch,” said Ming, adding that he “always advocated wearability and visual size over physical size, something even smaller than our usual 38mm would be a niche market indeed.” Yet he decided to go for a 35mm watch, for a clear vintage bias. But the MING 21.01 feels visually larger, thanks to a narrow bezel and dial elements pushed to the very outer edge. Ming’s own constraints were good torsional rigidity and 50m of water-resistance. But small, ultra-thin cases tend to be light, and unless ultra-lightness is sought, some heft avoid the watch to feel… a little hollow.

Thus Ming designed a case that would feel as heavy as possible, despite the 35mm diameter and 6.9mm thickness. The case is thus monobloc with no separate bezel and is solid all the way around the movement. And adding to the weight of the case, Ming opted for tantalum, a rare, difficult-to-machine metal with high density. The case, finished with polished, circular brushed and sandblasted surfaces, is done by Joshua Shapiro, watchmaker and “machining savant” based in Los Angeles. Flat sapphire crystals complete the case, front and back, with a caseback that’s secured by 4 screws.

Despite the overall thinness of the watch, the dial has two layers. The first features a multilayered pattern of strakes constrained within a fused borosilicate layer by our partner FEMTOprint. This is suspended over a CVD-coated brass plate that’s just 400 microns thick yet manages to carry milling that echoes the strake pattern above. The indices are etched into the external crystal, and the skeletonized hands have polished and angled flanks. There’s deliberately no lume on this MING 21.01. The watch is worn on a calf leather strap by Jean Rousseau Paris, with 20mm lug width, curved bars with quick release and flying blade brushed titanium tuck buckle. An optional matching tantalum bracelet by J.N Shapiro is available upon request.

Now, there are actually two versions of this watch. The gold-toned model above is the one that you’ll be able to order from Ming and its retailers. Only 15 pieces will be made and the price is CHF 32,500. But as said at the beginning of the article, 10 loyal collectors committed to the project without knowing what to expect. These will receive a slightly different “omakase” souscription version of the MING 21.01 “Project 21” with a blue CVC dial, a grey strap and a movement combining grey sandblasted bridges and a keletonized titanium train bridge coated in blue. For more details, please visit www.ming.watch.