MING is a Malaysian brand and with the MING 18.01 Abyss Concept Watch, they have kept everything Swiss on the inside. As a very small batch of experimental watches, the idea behind the concept was to challenge the team on design and functional aspects of a dive watch. From the three dials that were created for the project, the team wholeheartedly adopted the one we see today as it was strong on the design language – symmetry, geometry and arcs.
Limited to only 10 timepieces, the prototypes are designed to be water resistant to at least 1,250 meters, which is quite a feat. The team tested the watches only till this depth, but they are not sure, and feel the water resistance can be beyond this. The watch sustained the limits of the testing machine and performed well without any leakage or helium issues.
The case is a decent 40 mm in size and is under 14 mm thick. It wears well on the wrist as the short lugs have holes for both curved and straight straps. The design team has also added a crown locking indicator, so that you will know in case the crown is not screwed on properly. Features of the watch include a unique polished rotating bezel, which happens to be the best surface finish for holding and gripping fine objects when your hands are wet.
Ceramic inlay filled bezel with Super-LumiNova X1, make the watch highly legible in the deep seas. The marker design ranks accuracy to the minute for the first 15 minuets and for five minute divisions thereafter for the rest of the quarters. The bezel rotates unidirectional with 60 clicks and functions seamlessly underwater.
The stunning dial is a mix of the 19-series and 17-series and boasts of a composite sapphire construction. It has the extensive use of Super-LumiNova X1 for low light visibility, which is mandatory of a dive watch. The stainless steel 316L solid caseback encloses the ETA 2824-2 movement, which was picked for its long-term reliability and service. A little bit of modification has been done – the second crown position has been removed. The movement offers 38-hour power reserve.
As the first experimental prototype series being offered to all, it is the first watch by MING in steel and with running seconds. The design language is unique and supports larger sizes. MING doesn’t know if they will formally start a dive watch series, but if this prototype is to go by, then I think we should see more of them. The functions for the watch include hours, minutes and continuous seconds. The watch also boasts of 3.5mm thick sapphire crystal with antireflective coatings on both sides.
The watch comes with grey, blue or black textured calf with alcantara lining or blue smooth calf with light blue edges and alcantara lining or black smooth calf with grey stitching and alcantara lining. They are handmade by Jean Rousseau Paris. Pick it up for $6600.
