20.09, 'Special Projects Cave' Tourbillon, Titanium

Ming’s ‘Special Projects Cave’ is akin to a skunkworks within the larger company, taking on very small volume production pieces which push the limits of their abilities in design, engineering, and materials. This is the 20.09 Tourbillon, a Special Projects Cave project from 2022, of which just ten examples were made. 

Ming describes the 20.09 as summing together the best of various processes they’ve developed and that seems quite apt. Calibre TSE.M1 takes center stage, a dial-side, tungsten micro-rotor Schwarz Etienne TSE 121.00 ébauche with hand guilloche and a backlit, luminous tourbillon. The crown is aligned at 4 in order to create vertical symmetry between the micro-rotor, tourbillon, and barrel. The barell itself is lightly skeletonized, in a contemporary style. The calibre’s support ring is guilloche, where the bridges are DLC bicolor. This project includes their stunning Moasaic, HyCeram embedded sapphire, and sapphire hands. The caseback features a mosaic luminous pattern, made by radially laser engraving unique-depth micro squares into the sapphire and filling them with differing degrees of lume in order to achieve the effect shown here, a process developed in partnership with DM Surfaces SA of St. Imier.

The case is also rather unusual, with skeletonized lugs, and a DLC machined mid-case machined by Helfenstein Mechanik, who also did parts for Ochs und Junior. The shape is familiar, but the details are entirely new. Realizaed titanium, it is an ultralight exercise at 8.8 grams. This 20.09 also featured their first 22mm bracelet, which is a unique 5-link (also in titanium) with curved ends made specifically for this watch. This bracelet exists in just 10 examples, specifically for this watch alone, which tells you the degree Ming cared about the details here. 

Ming have quickly developed a name for themselves by developing their own techniques and visual style within the existing watchmaking infrastructure of Switzerland. The 20.09 Tourbillon, perhaps more than any other Ming, was the team’s opportunity to pull out all the stops in order to create something remarkable. Certainly the 20.09 Tourbillon is unlike any other Tourbillon released in the last decade, a watch for open-minded lovers of expressive creativity in watchmaking. 

This 20.09 presents in excellent condition overall. Its case shows only very light signs of sparing use limited to the lightest hairlines. Its calibre TSE.M1 is running well in specification on our timing equipment.

This example is modelled on an average-sized 7-inch wrist.