Ming has built one of the more unusual reputations in independent watchmaking: highly engineered cases, obsessive dial work, and production runs small enough that most buyers never see one in person. The new Ming × Massena Lab 57.09 Secret Honey continues that pattern, five years after the duo's first collaboration.
The 57.09 is a 40mm sports watch with a Sellita-based movement — Ming's Caliber 330.M2 automatic — and 100 meters of water resistance, so this is a daily wearable rather than a collector's ornament. The name refers to a reinterpretation of the honeycomb theme the two brands explored together previously, and the project pairs Ming's manufacturing standards with Massena Lab's eye for vintage-adjacent dial design.
At $8,650 the pricing is the point of contention, and it should be weighed honestly. Nothing about the movement explains that number; a standard Sellita at this price would be indefensible from a larger brand. What Ming sells is case engineering, finishing and exclusivity — the kind of detail-led design that a small independent can deliver and a mass manufacturer cannot. Buyers in this bracket are paying for the object, not the specification sheet.
That market is real but narrow. If you judge watches by movement finishing alone, this is not the purchase. If you have followed Ming's releases and wanted one without hunting the secondary market, the collaboration offers an official route at a price set by the brand rather than a flipper.
If the price is out of reach, the practical alternative is Ming's standard production 37-series, which carries much of the same design language without the collaboration premium or the allocation fight. Buyers who simply want the honeycomb dial treatment on a wearable sports watch should also compare pre-owned examples of the original collaboration, which trade below these new retail numbers.
Availability will be limited and demand from Ming collectors is reliable, so expect quick sell-through at launch. Check with Horologer Ming for allocation details before the drop.