Did You Know? The World's Lightest Mechanical Watch Comes From A Brand That Designs In Malaysia Called MING

When MING Thein and five fellow watch enthusiasts founded MING on a flight back from a watch fair in 2014, they probably didn't expect to be winning Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève awards within five years. Or creating the world's lightest mechanical watch. Or completely selling out collections within minutes. Yet here we are. The Malaysian Swiss brand operates from an unusual dual setup: design happens in Kuala Lumpur, where Thein, a photographer and Oxford physics graduate, leads the creative direction. Manufacturing and assembly take place in Switzerland with partners like Schwarz Etienne and Agenhor. This split geography reflects MING's broader philosophy. They're not pretending to have centuries of heritage. They're simply making the watches they want to see in the world.

The 17.06 Copper That Changed Everything
The 17.06 Copper won the Horological Revelation Prize at the 2019 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. For a brand barely two years old, this was remarkable. The watch itself tells you why. A warm etched copper dial sits against a polished and brushed stainless steel case. Multiple dial layers create depth. Luminous hour markers appear suspended in a sapphire ring, and polished hands sit just 0.3mm from the crystal underside to minimize parallax. The case construction broke new ground for the brand too. Machining tolerances of 10 microns allow for a crisp 20 micron edge bevel. The crown doesn't have a ghost position, something often overlooked in time only watches. Every detail received attention, from the ETA 2824 movement modified to have just two crown positions to the handmade Jean Rousseau strap that ships with each watch.

Eight Point Eight Grams
The MING LW.01 Manual weighs just 8.8 grams for the watch head. The automatic version? 10.8 grams. To put this in perspective, that's approximately the weight of two sheets of paper for the manual wound version. No other production mechanical watch comes close. Creating something this light without compromising durability demanded serious materials science. The case uses AZ31 magnesium aluminum zinc manganese alloy. The raw billet comes from Smiths High Performance in the UK, while Keronite handles the plasma electrolytic oxidation. Reto Helfenstein of Helfenstein Mechanik, who works with aerospace materials, machined the components. Instead of a traditional dial, the LW.01 has a gradient print on the crystal surface to hide the movement. The dial ring and movement holder combine into a hat shaped assembly just 0.5mm thick in places, supported by a cage with 3D struts. The crystal isn't sapphire but Corning Gorilla Glass 6, lighter yet still scratch resistant. Even the screws use PEEK composite. The movement, an ETA 2000 modified by Schwarz Etienne, sheds every possible gram without affecting reliability. The single layer Alcantara strap weighs just 1.2 grams. When you add up all 200 pieces across both versions, MING created something genuinely unprecedented in production watchmaking.

The Bluefin That Won Again
Fast forward to 2024. The 37.09 Bluefin took the Sports Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, marking MING's second GPHG award. This dive watch demonstrates how the brand keeps evolving. Most dive watches use an external rotating bezel. The Bluefin moves this internally onto a Super LumiNova X1 filled sapphire dial. A sealed crown at 4 o'clock rotates the entire dial via a 60 click unidirectional mechanism. You can operate it underwater. The crown doesn't pull out or screw down, eliminating a potential failure point. The dial took two years and several dead ends to realize. The base sapphire is machined and laser engraved. A proprietary double-layer chromium-based metallization gets applied before channels are filled with multiple layers of Super LumiNova. This creates a color shift on inversion that adds visual depth. The Hyceram hour indices live on the underside of the top crystal because the dial itself rotates. At 38mm diameter and 12.8mm thickness with 600 meters water resistance, the proportions work. Testing showed prototypes achieved a crush depth of 900 meters after 24 hour saturation. MING rated it conservatively at 600 meters. The thickness includes 2.8mm of externally domed sapphire crystal, so it wears thinner than the numbers suggest. The FKM rubber strap deserves mention. Developed alongside the watch, it molds to follow the wrist's natural shape in a 70x50mm oval. The buckle side pockets to receive the longer end like their tuck buckle straps. No keepers needed. The team now considers it the most comfortable rubber strap they've made.

Design Language That Actually Means Something
MING cases share recognizable features. Flared lugs that some find polarizing but work ergonomically. Quick release curved spring bars across the 20mm lug width. Signature details like interference patterns, gradient rings on crystals, skeletal indices. These elements evolved across generations while maintaining coherence. The brand pushes materials work harder too. Their Mosaic dials use femtosecond laser to create 3D structures inside sapphire crystal. They developed Hyceram, a ceramic fused luminous material. The pursuit of novel techniques serves legibility and light play rather than novelty for its own sake. Thein talks about design principles that guide every piece. Layering and light interaction lead to visual balance and legibility. Tactility and physical balance create wearability. Each watch should dynamically reflect its environment and reward observation. These aren't empty words when you see how pieces like the 17.06 or Bluefin actually behave on the wrist.

The Indian Connection
India's luxury watch market is exploding. India Watch Weekend 2025 brought together over 450 collectors, enthusiasts, and industry experts from cities across India for the country's first major horology gathering. The sophistication and appetite for fine watchmaking in India has reached a tipping point. India Watch Weekend returns in January 2026 at the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai on January 17 and 18. This isn't just another showcase. It's a knowledge led forum where provenance, craft, and collecting get interrogated and celebrated. The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie is participating, recognizing India's growing importance to watchmaking. For independent brands like MING, India represents both opportunity and validation. Swiss watch imports to India surged by 39.5% in 2023 compared to 2021, showing pent up demand from collectors gaining access to timepieces they couldn't easily acquire before. MING's direct to consumer model and strong value proposition resonate particularly well with educated buyers who understand what they're getting. The brand's global outlook, split production model, and focus on delivering exceptional watches regardless of traditional hierarchies fits the moment. Indian collectors aren't bound by the same hierarchies that constrained previous generations in established markets. They're building collections based on merit, design, and technical accomplishment.

MING will be participating at India Watch Weekend 2026, bringing their distinctive approach to Mumbai alongside established maisons and fellow independents. For a brand that started with six friends on a plane discussing what was missing in watchmaking, presenting to one of the world's fastest growing collector communities feels apt.