In 2021, we launched the Special Projects Cave as a way of allowing customer participation in experimental watches focused on developing new technologies and techniques. The Cave has already spawned several firsts in the watch world such as the sapphire Mosaic, Hyceram, and the LW.01 - the world’s lightest production mechanical watch at just 8.8 grams.
Today, we revisit the Mosaic, a favourite theme of ours as it reflects complexity, balance and layering. These are core elements of our design language that can be traced all the way back to our very first 17.01. In its current form, the Mosaic began 3 years ago with our groundbreaking creation of 3D structures within a sapphire disc using a femtosecond laser. This debuted as dials in the 20.01 Mosaic and the 20.11 Mosaic. It made a guest appearance in the 20.09 Tourbillon, and evolved further in the 20.01 Series 2, by combining a guilloched titanium baseplate, a gradient sapphire dial, a Mosaic layer and HyCeram luminous material on both dial and crystal for a complex, multidimensional experience.
For the 20.01 Series 3, we created the world's first fused borosilicate dial. It is the most luminous interpretation of the Mosaic yet, with 600 voids arrayed in a radial pattern varying horizontally and vertically. Each cavity is painstakingly hand-filled using syringes and liquid Super-LumiNova X1.
Unlike sapphire, which requires machining or lasering to form and cannot be made with profiled internal voids, our new dial is only possible via an additive manufacturing process executed by our partners, Femtoprint SA. It is a fitting representation of what the Special Projects Cave is about.
Continuing in the tradition of the first 3D Mosaic, the 20.01 Series 3 is also powered by the Agenhor AgenGraphe - in yet another unique configuration for MING. It is a manual wind, instantaneous central minutes chronograph with 5N rose gold coated bridges and plates and diamond polished anglage. We housed it in our 20-series case with 'flying blade' lugs in 5N rose gold and a contrasting DLC titanium core.
You can learn more about the 20.01 S3 here. We will also have prototypes available for viewing at Geneva Watch Days next week. Please reach out to hello@ming.watch to make an appointment.
The MING 20.01 Series 3 is priced at CHF 43,500 and production is limited to 20 pieces. A 30% deposit is required for order confirmation and the balance on delivery which is expected to begin October 2024.
Published: 20th August 2024