Presenting the MING 2020 Concept Set

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2020 has been a challenging and unexpected year for all of us. We had big plans, some of which we’ve presented, and some of which have been delayed, deferred or forever changed. On the bright side, we were offered a unique opportunity by Phillips & Blackbird, in the form of the RETROSPECTIVE 2000-2020 auction, to leave a high point with not one, but three unique watches including an all-new flagship family for us: the 20 series – MING 2020 Concept Set.

Past, Present and Future

The three watches celebrate the MING philosophy, and are representative markers of where our thinking originated, where it is today, and where it will go. They are once again the product of strong partnerships and our masochistic determination to ask ‘what if?’

All three watches are piece unique prototypes and the only watches of their type in existence – there are no others held within the company or in the wild. They are offered complete with our standard two year warranty against mechanical defects and include a comprehensive accessory package that will be delivered to the final buyer. They will be offered as a set in Lot 282 in the Phillips & Blackbird: RETROSPECTIVE 2000-2020 Auction on 8 November 2020, with an estimate of CHF 40,000-80,000. Viewing is available in person at Hôtel La Réserve, Geneva, from 4 to 8 November 2020.

Specifications of all three watches are listed below and further details on the auction can be found here: https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/CH080320

Additional details on the watches in the set can be found below.

Past: 18.01 6.39 Concept

The 18.01 6.39 was one of the designs prototyped along the path to the Abyss Concept in 2019 and the 18.01 H41 this year. Aesthetically, it was designed in parallel with the MING 17.03 GMT and splits the sector into the bezel timing ring and dial contents to balance apparent size whilst maintaining dive functionality. The case is an earlier version of the Abyss Concept and tested to 1,000m.

Functions:

Hours, minutes, continuous seconds

Case, dial and hands:

Stainless steel 316L with solid caseback
40mm diameter, 13.8mm thick, 46mm lug to lug
3.5mm thick sapphire crystal with antireflective coating on both sides
Rigid case without spacer rings
Water resistance of at least 1,000m / 3,280ft / 100 ATM
Screw down crown with triple gaskets and red safety indicator
Three-part composite dial with Super-LumiNova X1 coated sapphire
Beadblasted hands filled with Super-LumiNova X1
Unidirectional rotating bezel with 60 clicks
Ceramic bezel insert filled with Super-LumiNova X1

Movement:

Top grade ETA2824-2 automatic movement
38-hour power reserve
28,800 bph (4Hz)
25 jewels
Sweep central seconds with hacking function
Movement adjusted to five positions with a 250-hour test program

Made in Switzerland; construction, case and dial by Schwarz-Etienne and unique to MING

Present: 20.01 S1 Concept

The MING 20.01 is our first chronograph and a project we have been developing since the end of 2018, with release originally slated for Q1 2020. Then COVID hit and we were unable to travel to present it. It is something appropriately special: a collaboration between ourselves, Agenhor and Schwartz-Etienne to produce a unique execution of the highly regarded AgenGraphe movement.

The 20.01 features central chronograph minutes and seconds in a manual wind form to reduce overall thickness. It is also the first AgenGraphe to use this hand-wind configuration and feature plates and bridges DLC coated in shades of grey to enhance the overall sense of depth.

The 20.01 is also the first watch in our new 20-series case and is made from grade 5 titanium. It appears seamless but is actually quite complex and locks together like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. Our second-generation design language is continued in the dial, which is a 1.3mm coated sapphire crystal that changes dramatically with the light. The dial and external crystal carry luminous markings in ceramic, fused into the sapphire.

Overall, we consider the 20.01 to be our modernist interpretation of the classical chronograph (hand wind, 60 min). The initial simplicity merely hints at an underlying complexity which is only revealed through the caseback. It represents the Present state of MING, and was supposed to be released at the beginning of 2020 as a production model – but then COVID happened and plans had to change.

Functions:

Hours and minutes
Central chronograph with seconds and 60-minute counter
Instantaneous jumping minutes

Case, dial & hands:

41.5mm diameter, 14.2mm thickness
Grade 5 titanium with 34 parts and 4 different finishes
Polished and brushed bezel and ‘flying blade’ lugs; DLC coated caseband
Domed sapphire crystal front and rear, double-sided antireflective coating
Front crystal with etched and luminous minute markings
1.3mm thick sapphire dial with HyCeram ceramic Super-LumiNova, in partnership with DM Surfaces
Hands with Superluminova X1 fill
Rigid case without spacer rings
50m water resistance

Movement:

Agenhor for MING AgenGraphe Cal. 6361.M1,
34mm diameter, 5.35mm thickness
Central chronograph with proprietary Agenhor coupling mechanism, regulator and upgraded clutch
Manual winding with overwind protection and twin skeletonized barrels
DLC coated bridges and plates in three shades with diamond cut anglage
~60h power reserve at full wind
Movement adjusted to six positions

Made in Switzerland; movement by Agenhor; construction, case and dial by Schwarz-Etienne and unique to MING

Future: 27.02 Concept

The MING 27.02 is a glimpse into what might succeed our popular 27.01 Ultra Thin; it is simultaneously simpler and more complex (by virtue of increased visual layering). We found space within the case to add a guilloche ring underneath our signature gradient sapphire dial.

Depending on the environment, the 27.02 can present anything from a reflection to an inky black pool that transitions into a Clous-de-Paris ring. It is perhaps our most visually dynamic watch to date and is powered by our MING Cal. 7001.M1, a heavily modified version of the ETA 7001.