orologer Ming and Massena LAB’s first collaboration in 2021 was memorable for more than its honeycomb dials. The release of 50 examples of the 17.09 Honey and 150 of the 17.09 Black brought website crashes and problems with hand alignment — an experience the partners acknowledge taught them lessons in server capacity, customer service and communication.

The friendship between Ming Thein and William Massena endured. Five years later, now fellow members of the Alternative Horological Alliance (AHA), they return with the Ming × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey.

The original watches drew on the honeycomb textures found on certain collectible mid-century dials. The 17.09 Honey interpreted that motif through a hexagonal pattern in warm tones, while the Black offered a darker alternative. Their successor brings both palettes together in a display whose appearance changes throughout the day.

Honeycomb in motion

The 57.09 replaces the fixed pattern of its predecessor with three overlapping sapphire discs. Their rotation progressively reveals and conceals the honey tones that give the watch its name.

Beneath the discs sits a dark brown, lacquered brass dial with a circular-brushed finish. The sapphire layers above it complete one revolution every 24 hours, 12 hours and 60 minutes respectively. Each has its own colour and arrangement of apertures, creating a shifting interference pattern as they overlap. Ming calls the effect “dynamic guilloché”.

The construction also carries the time display. Honey-coloured indications integrated into the 12-hour and 60-minute discs serve as the hour and minute markers, with orange-emitting Super-LumiNova ensuring visibility after dark.

A further layer sits above them. The indices and the Ming and Massena LAB logos are engraved into the box-shaped front sapphire crystal and filled with Ming Polar White luminous material. Selected elements on the rotating discs also receive orange-emitting Super-LumiNova or Polar White, extending the interplay of colour and depth into the night-time display.

The result is an unusually animated interpretation of a watch displaying only hours and minutes. Its additional complexity is devoted to the changing appearance of the dial.

Three steps, three colours

The Grade 5 titanium case follows Ming’s fifth-generation design language, including the triple-stepped lugs seen on the 57.05 Comet and 57.04 Phoenix. It measures 40 mm in diameter, 10.17 mm thick and 47.8 mm from lug to lug, with water resistance to 100 metres.

The broad dial opening and relatively thin bezel recall the original 17.09 collaboration. The partners also cite William Massena’s interest in vintage watches with the celebrated “Padellone” case design as an influence on the proportions.

For the first time at Ming, each step of the lugs receives a different colour. The outermost retains the natural tone of titanium; the middle has a TiN coating evoking yellow gold; and the innermost uses TiSiN to suggest rose gold. These three finishes extend the dial’s warm and dark contrasts into the case.

The stepped lug construction comprises nine individual components. This assembly allows adjacent surfaces to receive separately defined brushed and polished finishes, contributing to the crisp transitions between each level.

An automatic calibre beneath the display

Visible through the sapphire caseback, the self-winding Sellita for Ming 330.M2 provides approximately 50 hours of power reserve and operates at 4 Hz, or 28,800 vibrations per hour. Its skeletonised bridges have a brushed finish and anthracite coating, matched by the mainplate beneath.

Two straps accompany the watch: a vachetta-coloured goat leather strap made by Jean Rousseau Paris for Ming, and a black Ming FKM rubber strap. Both are equipped with curved quick-release spring bars and a stainless-steel flying-blade tuck buckle with micro-adjustment.

The Ming × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey is limited to 125 examples, priced at CHF 7,250 excluding taxes. The announced order opening was 15 October 2026 at 1 pm GMT, exclusively through www.ming.watch, with a public presentation scheduled for WatchTime New York from 16 to 18 October.

Where the first collaboration explored a historical dial texture, the second turns that reference into a moving composition. The honeycomb is still the starting point, but its geometry now unfolds over time.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Functions

• Hours and minutes
• Dynamic interference pattern created by three rotating sapphire discs

Case

• Material: Grade 5 titanium
• Lugs: Natural titanium outer steps, TiN-coated middle steps and TiSiN-coated inner steps
• Diameter: 40 mm
• Thickness: 10.17 mm
• Lug-to-lug length: 47.8 mm
• Lug width: 20 mm
• Water resistance: 100 metres
• Front and rear crystals: Box-shaped sapphire with double-sided anti-reflective coating

Dial & Display

• Base dial: Dark brown lacquered brass with circular-brushed finish
• Three stacked sapphire discs, completing one revolution every 24 hours, 12 hours and 60 minutes respectively
• Discs with anti-reflective coating, orange-emitting Super-LumiNova and Ming Polar White luminous material
• Honey-coloured hour and minute indications integrated into the 12-hour and 60-minute discs, with orange-emitting Super-LumiNova
• Indices and Ming and Massena LAB logos engraved into the front sapphire crystal and filled with Ming Polar White

Movement

• Calibre: Sellita for Ming 330.M2, self-winding
• Jewels: 25
• Power reserve: Approximately 50 hours
• Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour / 4 Hz
• Diameter: 26.2 mm
• Thickness: 4.1 mm
• Finishing: Skeletonised, brushed and anthracite-coated bridges over a matching anthracite-coated mainplate

Straps

• Vachetta-coloured goat leather strap by Jean Rousseau Paris for Ming
• Additional black Ming FKM rubber strap
• Both straps fitted with curved quick-release spring bars and a stainless-steel flying-blade tuck buckle with micro-adjustment

Warranty

• Two-year limited mechanical warranty

Pricing & Availability

• Limited edition of 125 pieces
• Price: CHF 7,250, excluding taxes
• Supplied with leather and rubber straps