MING 21.01 "Project 21" (Pre-order)

This is a pre-order, with delivery expected for May/June 2025.

• Email: shop@collectivehorology.com
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• Text (US Only): +1 (805) 321-8877

The Result of Horological Omakase

The 21.01 "Project 21" is the result of a Singaporean collector group challenging MT with the following brief: how would a watch designed entirely for himself, within feasible limits, but free of any other constraints look? Could something like that ever be made? And would he make an edition for the collectors at the dinner?

Thus, Project 21, and the 21.01 was born. 

Enter the Frederic Piguet 21, a horologically significant movement with a distinguished
history: at just 1.75mm it was for the longest time, one of the thinnest movements ever
made and one of the longest produced, from its introduction in 1925 (exactly 100 years ago) up until Piguet was integrated into the Swatch Group.

It and its derivatives have been used by nearly the entire industry – with Patek, AP, VC, JLC, IWC, Blancpain, Cartier and others putting their own take on it. And it has long been one of the movements MT has wanted to create a watch around.

A small movement only makes sense in a proportionally sized watch – and whilst MT has always advocated wearability and visual size over physical size, something even smaller than our usual 38mm would be a niche market indeed. “I settled on 35mm – at the threshold of modernity, with a clear vintage bias. I wanted it to wear large, which it does thanks to a narrow bezel, and markers and dial elements pushed to the very outer edge. It needed to be thin, to harmonize with the movement. And it would of course have to be built to modern standards – 50m water resistance and good torsional rigidity.”, adds MT.

Deliberation in every detail is something we take pride in, and in MT’s words, “It [Project 21] wouldn’t be a MING if we didn’t push for more: small cases tend to be light, and unless ultralight to the point of cognitive dissonance – also tend to feel a little hollow. So I designed a case that would be as heavy as possible: solid all the way around the movement and no separate bezel for even higher perceived rigidity. I wanted it machined in dense, exotic tantalum, have three contrasting finishes – mirror polish on the rehaut edge, fine circular brush on the concave bezel that flows into the lug tops, and sandblasted around the flanks that flow continuously into the bottom.”

He continues, “There is only one hard line in the case body proper: the edge between the upper and side surfaces. Every other contour is curved in at least one direction, sometimes two. And the caseback isn’t even circular but has a rounded trapezoidal protrusion to provide clearance for the crown tube and stem.”

The design combined with the tolerances required for this case and the choice of tantalum meant a multiaxis machining nightmare demanding some of the best case making and machining talent today. This seeming impossibility of a case was one of the many reasons we had never seriously considered producing Project 21 sooner.

If you’ve followed our exploits with the Alternative Horological Alliance and preview of the tantalum bracelet, you will likely guess who brought MT’s vision to dense, metallic life: Joshua Shapiro, AHA co-founder, watchmaker and machining savant. Project 21’s case is produced and finished entirely by Josh and his team in Los Angeles and is a masterpiece of machining in tantalum, down to the multiple finishes on the 3.5mm diameter crown. 

Josh adds, “Machining in tantalum always has its challenges, and Ming’s design are always eloquent yet difficult. We were extremely pleased with the result despite the difficulties and feel a tantalum case like this has never been made before.” MT didn’t stop with the case though – “A project this special meant we had to keep going. My take on the Frederic Piguet cal. 21 involves completely reworking the vintage
movements with new bridges including one in titanium that is colour matched to the dial, skeletonised to show off the gear train, and has jewels set in chatons.” We partnered with TitAl SA and Mathis Horlogerie for these extensive changes. All other bridges carry polished anglage and fine sablage, in a nod to the finishing used on our other movements. An exciting but daunting challenge for everyone involved.

The dial side is equally special: despite being an extra-flat, Project 21 has two dials: the first features a multilayered pattern of strakes constrained within a fused borosilicate layer by our partner FEMTOprint. This is suspended over a CVD coated brass plate that’s just 400 microns thick yet manages to carry milling that echoes the strake pattern above. The indices are etched into the external crystal, and the skeletonized hands have polished and angled flanks; due to its thinness and the thematic intent there is no luminous material, making the Project 21 one of the very few watches we have made that does not glow.

“I have always sought balance in design and Project 21 is perhaps the most finely tuned expression of that to date. It is visually thin and refined, yet tactilely robust and hefty; it looks small but wears larger; it appears vintage yet has thoroughly modern design codes and forms that are only possible with current technology.”, concludes MT.

Following the delivery of the 10 omakase watches to our trusting collectors and friends today, we are excited to announce production of a limited 15-piece edition of the Project 21 for public release. This edition features a 5N rose gold coated dial and matching movement with 5N rose gold coated bridges.

Key Details

• Case: 35mm diameter, 6.9mm thick, 38.4mm lug-to-lug, Monobloc case in tantalum with three finishes, by J.N Shapiro in California, Flat sapphire crystals front and rear with double-sided antireflective coating, 20mm lug width
  
• Water Resistance: 50m
• Movement: Vintage Frederic Piguet Cal. 21, 18 jewels, Modified and reworked by Mathis Horlogerie and TitAl SA for MING, 20mm diameter, 1.75mm thickness, hand-winding, Skeletonized titanium train bridge and sandblasted surfaces with polished anglage, ~38 hr. power reserve when fully wound, Movement adjusted to five positions
  
• Dial: Two layer dial – Femtoprint fused borosilicate with voids over CVD brass
  
• Functions: Hours and minutes, Extra flat hand winding movement
  
• Additional Features: 1-complimentary service within the first 5 years of ownership
• Strap: 20mm, 1x calf leather strap by Jean Rousseau Paris, 1x additional strap of customer’s choice, Fitted with ‘flying blade’ brushed titanium tuck buckle, Optional matching Alternative Horological Alliance bracelet in tantalum by J.N Shapiro
  

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