MING × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey: A Dial In Constant Motion

The MING × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey combines three rotating sapphire discs, shifting honey-coloured indications and a triple-stepped titanium case in a limited edition of 125 pieces.

Some watches use complications to draw attention to their mechanics. Others make the display itself the main event. The MING × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey takes the latter approach, transforming the simple indication of hours and minutes into a constantly changing visual composition. Developed by MING and Massena LAB, this new collaboration revisits the honey-inspired aesthetic of their earlier 17.09 models, replacing a conventional honeycomb motif with a more elusive display built around three rotating sapphire discs.

Limited to 125 individually produced examples, the 57.09 Secret Honey is priced at CHF 7,250, excluding taxes. Orders open exclusively through MING’s official website on 15 October 2026 at 1:00 PM GMT.

A Second Helping Of Honey

MING and Massena LAB first collaborated in 2021 with the 17.09 Honey and 17.09 Black. Produced in runs of 50 and 150 pieces respectively, the watches drew inspiration from the honeycomb patterns found on collectible vintage wristwatches from the middle of the twentieth century. The Honey paired a stainless steel case with a warm honey-coloured dial, while the Black offered a darker interpretation of the same idea.

Five years later, the two brands return to that concept with the 57.09 Secret Honey. Rather than simply reproducing the original hexagonal pattern, the new model combines the warm honey palette with a darker background and a display that changes continuously as the discs rotate.

The word “Secret” refers to the way the honey colour reveals itself. Instead of remaining fully visible across the dial, it appears through carefully arranged openings as the sapphire discs move relative to one another. The result is a display that changes throughout the day, giving the watch a distinctive visual character even though its primary functions remain hours and minutes.

Three Rotating Sapphire Discs

At the centre of the 57.09 Secret Honey is a dark brown brass base dial, finished with lacquer and circular brushing. Above it sit three stacked sapphire crystal discs, each with an anti-reflective coating and its own rotation cycle: 24 hours, 12 hours and 60 minutes.

Each disc features a different colour and aperture pattern. As the openings overlap, they reveal and conceal different sections of the layers beneath, producing a continuously shifting interference pattern that MING describes as “dynamic guilloché”. It is an interpretation of the traditional decorative technique through movement and optical interaction rather than a static engraved pattern.

The 12-hour and 60-minute discs carry the honey-coloured hour and minute indications. These elements emit an orange glow thanks to Super-LumiNova, allowing the time display to stand out in low-light conditions. The 24-hour disc contributes to the constantly changing visual composition, with the three layers working together as the watch runs.

The luminous effect extends beyond the time indications. The indices and the MING and Massena LAB logos are engraved into the box-style sapphire crystal and filled with MING Polar White luminous material. This creates a second luminous layer above the moving display. In daylight, the dial’s colours and overlapping apertures provide the visual interest; in darkness, the orange indications and white luminous details introduce a more dramatic contrast.

A Triple-Stepped Titanium Case

The 57.09 Secret Honey uses a Grade 5 titanium case measuring 40 mm in diameter, 10.17 mm in thickness and 47.8 mm from lug to lug. Water resistance is rated at 100 metres, while the lug width measures 20 mm.

The case follows MING’s fifth-generation design language, with triple-stepped lugs also seen on models such as the 57.05 Comet and 57.04 Phoenix. For this edition, the stepped construction introduces three distinct colours that echo the dial’s contrast between dark tones and warm honey accents.

The outermost step retains the natural colour of titanium. The middle step receives a titanium nitride, or TiN, coating that references yellow gold, while the innermost step is coated in titanium silicon nitride, or TiSiN, to evoke rose gold. The result is a tri-tone design that connects the case architecture with the shifting palette of the dial.

This is also a technically complex construction. Each lug assembly comprises nine individual components, allowing adjacent surfaces to receive sharply defined brushed and polished finishes. The layered structure gives the case a more architectural appearance and makes the lugs an important part of the watch’s identity rather than a purely functional connection to the strap.

The Sellita For MING 330.M2

Powering the watch is the automatic Sellita for MING 330.M2 movement, featuring 25 jewels, a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) and an approximate power reserve of 50 hours.

The movement measures 26.2 mm in diameter and 4.1 mm in thickness. It can be viewed through the sapphire crystal exhibition caseback, which reveals skeletonised bridges with brushed finishing and an anthracite coating over a matching anthracite-coated baseplate.

Although the dial creates the impression of considerable movement, the watch remains focused on the display of hours and minutes. The visual complexity comes from the interaction of the three sapphire discs rather than from a long list of conventional complications.

Two Straps, Two Different Characters

The MING × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey is delivered with two straps. The first is a vachetta-coloured goat leather strap made by Jean Rousseau Paris for MING, complementing the warm tones of the dial and the gold-inspired middle step of the lugs. The second is a black MING FKM rubber strap, offering a darker and more contemporary alternative.

Both straps use curved quick-release spring bars and a stainless steel flying-blade tuck buckle with micro-adjustment. The interchangeable options allow the watch to shift between a warmer, more classic appearance and a sportier look without changing its central design.

Price And Availability

The MING × Massena LAB 57.09 Secret Honey is limited to 125 pieces and priced at CHF 7,250 on the leather strap, excluding taxes. It will be available exclusively through ming.watch from 15 October 2026 at 1:00 PM GMT.

The watch will also be presented publicly at WatchTime New York, where MING and Massena LAB are scheduled to exhibit from 16 to 18 October 2026.

With the 57.09 Secret Honey, MING and Massena LAB revisit a shared design idea without simply repeating it. The honeycomb inspiration remains, but its expression is now dynamic: colour appears and disappears, the sapphire discs continuously rearrange the dial, and the three-tone titanium lugs extend the same contrast into the case. It is a time-only watch that places its emphasis not on adding functions, but on making the act of reading time visually engaging.

Technical Specifications

For more information, please visit the official MING website.

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