Hands-On With The New Ming 29.01 Midnight
When Ming offers to send you a watch to spend time with, you don’t say no, even if it’s something you have seen before. The Ming 29.01 Worldtimer hit the market almost exactly two years ago. This week, the model received an upgrade or, better yet, a line extension with the new Ming 29.01 Midnight. While it is very similar to its predecessor at first glance, this new timepiece offers more than meets the eye.
I first saw the new 29.01 Midnight in Geneva during one of the recent watch soirées. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of all-black watches, but it caught my attention with its wrist presence.
Ming
Mike, our resident Ming aficionado, knows how much I support the brand. Luckily, I’m not the only Fratello writer with a soft spot for Ming, but the name does indeed come up pretty frequently in our Fratello On Air podcast. Furthermore, I bought my very first and, so far, only Ming, the 17.09, after test driving Mike’s a few times. That watch practically landed in my lap after one of our listeners heard in the podcast that I was in the market for one. He reached out, made a deal, and the rest is history. Owning a Ming is the closest I’ve ever come to being in a secret society. It’s an “if you know, you know” type of club that only selected members can join. If you wear a Ming in watch circles, the approval nods and the sneaky winks will start coming sooner or later.
29.01 Midnight
All this is to say that I did not hesitate one bit when the brand asked if I’d like to spend some time with the latest model, the 29.01 Midnight. To bring you up to speed regarding the model line, the 29.01 first debuted in early April 2023 in a Grade 5 titanium case with a breathtaking bespoke Schwarz-Etienne movement and a sapphire dial with a heavy Super-LumiNova X1 application. A few months later, during Dubai Watch Week, Ming doubled down with the 29.01 Dubai Edition. The watch had very similar features, but this time, it housed a traditional Arabic dial for the Middle Eastern market. Then, while Ming was busy releasing some of the coolest pieces in recent years, the 29.01 went to sleep — until now. The new 29.01 Midnight builds on the success of its titanium counterpart with a few updates, the most obvious being its stealthy black case.
On the wrist
I received the 29.01 Midnight on the soon-to-be iconic Ming rubber strap. I could write paragraphs only on the strap, but we’re not here for that. Let’s just say it’s extremely comfortable. Aside from the rubber strap, the case and dial are both black, giving the timepiece an understated elegance. As Ming cleverly puts it:
“It’s for covert night missions. Secret assignations. Dead drops. International persons of mystery. Solo pilots on polar routes. Nocturnal hot air balloon pilots. Fighting crime (by night). Persons with discrete and discreet paramours. Lovers of subtle warm accents. Negotiations of the utmost importance. Competitor reconnaissance. Or plain ol’ insomnia.”
I could not have said it any better. And this is coming from someone who is not the biggest fan of black (ceramic, DLC/PVD-coated, etc.) watches. Yet due to its dark look, the Ming 29.01 works on the wrist. At 40mm, we are not talking about a small watch, even if the thickness is only 11.8mm. The DLC-coated Grade 5 titanium case and the polished and blasted “flying blade” hollow interlocking lugs help reduce the weight and create the feeling that you are barely wearing anything on the wrist.
Usability
Yet the true essence of the 29.01 Midnight lies in the worldtimer complication. After all, why would you get a timepiece with such a complication for CHF 22,000 (ex. taxes) if not to have it as your companion on your trips around the world? Sadly, I could only take the watch with me to my trip to Berlin, which is in the same time zone as my home in Karlsruhe, but that’s not even an issue. Thanks to the deep box-style sapphire front crystal, bezel-less construction, and the sapphire hands with HyCeram ceramic Super-LumiNova X1 fill, the legibility is great. For me, the only difficulty was reading the metallic 24-hour disc, but hey, I’m over 40, so it might just be my eyesight. With a 50m water resistance rating, this won’t be your favorite dive watch, but who cares?
What’s inside?
Let’s flip the watch over and spend a few minutes discussing what is under the domed rear crystal. The heart and soul of the Ming 29.01 Midnight is the Ming-exclusive Schwarz-Etienne caliber ASE222. We are talking about a 31-jewel, 5.6mm-thick automatic movement with a bidirectional winding micro-rotor. A prominent part of this caliber is the skeletonized barrel, but the 5N-rose-gold-coated bridges with diamond-cut anglage are stunning too. The movement is a feast for the eye, regardless of whether you are a fan of Ming’s watch designs or not. Watchmaking beauty must be appreciated, and this caliber is as beautiful as it gets. With around 86 hours of power reserve, the watch gives you enough juice to spend the weekend without it and throw it back on the wrist first thing on Monday morning.
Closing words
The new Ming 29.01 Midnight comes as an edition of 25 pieces, with delivery starting in June 2025. Admittedly, a price of CHF 22,000 plus tax does not put it in the “affordable” category for most. Also, this should not be your first Ming watch. But if you are considering getting it, you probably have a few Mings already anyway. What does not cease to amaze me in this, as well as most other Mings, is the design consistency. It’s the “DNA” we hear about over and over in various press meetings but rarely find in most brands’ catalogs. A Ming watch, however, including the 29.01 Midnight, is instantly recognizable, even from a distance, thanks to its strong design traits. How many other watch brands do you know that can say the same?
