Light Weight Champion: The MING LW.01

The introduction of increasingly high tech materials into modern watchmaking has made it possible to take some of watchmaking’s most traditional objectives and push them into record-breaking territory which the watchmakers of yesteryear could never have imagined. The Richard Mille UP-01 is a case in point – currently the world’s thinnest watch at 1.75mm thick, it would have been impossible to make without micromechanical engineering techniques for which Breguet would have given his eyeteeth. However while it’s an impressive piece of engineering, it reminds me a little bit of something that a sculpture teacher of mine told me back in the days when I was an aspiring fine arts major and making welded steel sculpture. The gist of his advice was to be careful about welding, because while you could, as he put it, “stand a skyscraper on a corner” with welding, that did not necessarily mean you would get a good sculpture out of it. The same I think applies with any watch which is a technical tour de force; it may set records but it still needs to make a more holistic kind of horological sense.

In that spirit, MING has created what it says is “probably” the lightest mechanical watch ever made: the LW.01. LW stands for Light Weight and the watch most certainly fits that description. It comes in two versions, hand wound and automatic, and the hand wound version is almost unbelievably light at just 8.8 grams, which is approximately the weight of two sheets of paper. The “probably” in the press release is a wise bit of careful phrasing, because there are a number of watches out there which weigh close to 20 grams or less, including the 2016 Montblanc Timewalker Pythagore, which weighed in at 15 grams (forgot about that one, didn’t you? I did) and more recently, the Behrens 11G, which has a claimed weight of 11 grams and is a candidate this year at the GPHG and which achieves its light weight partly through the use of carbon fiber composite for the case. (The watch is still being prototyped so the actual weight may change in the final production model).

The MING LW.01, on the other hand, began with a certain specific set of conditions, self-imposed by Ming Thein during the design and prototyping processes. The first of these was the general stipulation that the watch should as much as possible, not feel too far afield from a conventional watch in appearance and in how it felt on the wrist. This affected the choice of material, and as MT wanted the “texture and thermal transfer of metal,” metal it was; the case of the LW.01 is made of AZ31. (3D printing and carbon fiber composites were considered during the design process but were rejected on both technical and aesthetic grounds).

This is an alloy of magnesium, aluminum, zinc, and manganese and the alloy can be machined, albeit with considerable difficulty. The alloy was provided by an outfit called Smiths High Performance, which produces very lightweight, high strength alloys for competitive motorsports components, including those found in Formula 1 cars.

Another objective for the watch was that it should be durable enough for every day use, as well as reliable and this extends to serviceability. The movement is an ETA caliber 2000.M1, modified by Schwartz-Etienne, with some components lightened or removed entirely without compromising the functionality of the watch. The cases have an external plasmaeletroylic oxidation treatment in order to make them more corrosion resistant and improve biocompatibility.

The material for the crystal was also chosen for both durability and lightness – normally you’d expect sapphire but the crystal of the LW.01 is made of Gorilla Glass, which according to the laudably complete press release is much less dense than sapphire, at 2.40 grams per cc for Gorilla Glass vs. 3.98 grams per cc for a conventional sapphire crystal. The screws for fixing the case components in place are made of PEEK (Polyetheretherketone) which is a high strength, high stiffness, high performance plastic (check out what the good folks at Ensinger have to say, for all your PEEK needs). The case has integral strap bars which also reduces weight (steel spring bars would have been heavier) and the case structure is designed for maximum stiffness while reducing the amount of necessary metal to a minimum.

The case is in three parts – there is a holder for the movement whose outer ring also acts as the dial and the central area holding the movement is covered by a gradient print on the crystal, which also has the index markings. (The gradient application is subtle, you can just barely make out the outer edge of the movement). The holder is supported by a cage with spaceframe-like struts, and this cage is secured to the bezel, which is also hollowed out to reduce weight.

Expertise to produce the watch came from a number of different places; I’m going to quote MING rather than try to paraphrase.

“To machine AZ31 magnesium – let alone to the wall thicknesses and tolerances required – requires some special expertise. Reto Helfenstein of Helfenstein Mechanik was brought in on the recommendation of some mutual friends; his expertise with similar materials for the aerospace industry has proven invaluable. The raw AZ31 billet comes from Smiths High Performance in the UK, and Keronite handles the plasmaelectrolytic oxidation. Manufacture Jean-Rousseau created the single layer Alcantara straps that weigh just 1.2 grams, yet are soft and comfortable to wear without being floppy. Included with the watch are also a selection of other straps for a different feel. We also include a second buckle – in aluminium and in our tuck buckle design – by DBMF. Manufacture Schwarz-Etienne figured out which components within the ETA2000 could be removed or lightened to further save weight, and which had to remain untouched for reliability. Final assembly and testing are conducted at Schwarz- Etienne.”

I was able to see the prototype in person a couple of days ago and I think one of the design features which ought to get a shout out, as it really closes the deal, is the “pulsing seconds” display. This takes on the appearance of a star flaring and contracting at the center of the dial and while I think just about anybody else would have been content to omit a seconds display, the use of the pulsing seconds is distractingly mesmerizing (much as I hate the word, it’s apt) and in combination with the extreme lightness of the watch, almost makes you feel as if you have some sort of entity on your wrist composed of light and elemental fire rather than metal.

The visual impact of the watch combined with its featherweight mass is an interesting exercise in cognitive dissonance. Normally I’m not a fan of very light watches; I like a little mass with my luxury and I like the reassuring mass of gold or better yet, platinum. Most ultra-light watches feel to be blunt, a little cheap to me. But the LW.01 has a kind of spectral presence that more than makes up for the absence of physical weight. Doing an ultra-light watch that communicates depth of thought and care is a tough trick to pull off, but I think MING and MT have done it, and while I understand some of the skepticism I’ve heard about the price, I think the cost is more than justified by the impression the watch makes in person.

The MING LW.01: Weight of the watch head, 10.8 grams for the automatic version, 8.8 grams for the hand-wound version; total weight will vary depending on strap options (single layer Alancantra, double layer Alacantra, or single layer natural rubber, all by Jean Rousseau Paris, with AZ31 alloy magnesium buckle). 

Case, 38mm x 6.5mm, PEO treated AZ31 magnesium alloy case and dial; anodized aluminum crown, PEEK composit screws; Corning Gorilla Glass 6 crystal, buttressed case construction with integral dial/movement holder. Pulsing seconds display, 20mm lug width with fixed bars; water resistance, 25 meters (which is rather impressive given the construction). Movement, ETA 2000.M2, modified by Schwarz-Etienne; 36 hour power reserve. Price, CHF 19,500. A “Special Products Cave” limited edition of 200 watches, with the option to select manual or automatic at the time of ordering. Delivery expected in Q4, 2024. Visit MING to order and for additional info.