The MING 57.05 Comet takes a familiar complication and gives it a refreshingly practical twist. Created for MING’s ninth anniversary, the new worldtimer features a patent-pending bezel system that adjusts cities observing daylight saving time with a single click. For collectors who actually travel across time zones, it is the kind of clever detail that turns a beautiful watch into a genuinely useful one.
From Photography to Independent Watchmaking
Founded in 2017 by designer, photographer and engineer Ming Thein, MING has built its reputation around watches that combine unconventional design with serious engineering. The brand’s distinctive use of layered materials, light, colour and sculptural case architecture has quickly established a recognizable visual identity, while its watches have earned major industry recognition, including GPHG prizes in 2019 and 2024.
The 57.05 Comet continues that philosophy, while drawing inspiration from the de Havilland Comet, the world’s first commercial jet airliner. Entering passenger service in 1952, the aircraft helped usher in the jet age—and, fittingly, a new era of international travel.
A Smarter Approach to Worldtime
The clever part is hidden in plain sight. Cities that do not observe daylight saving time sit on the fixed inner bezel, while DST-observing locations occupy a separate outer bezel. Rotate that outer bezel by one 15-degree click and those cities advance by exactly one hour, leaving the others untouched. A small DST ON indicator confirms the setting.
The 40mm stainless-steel case measures just 10.33mm thick and features MING’s elaborate triple-stepped lugs. Its multilayered blue dial incorporates the brand’s “Comet Tail” raster pattern, creating a constantly shifting visual effect as the layers interact. The 24-hour scale adds blue and orange Super-LumiNova, while the hands and indices bring further colour to the display.
Inside the MING 57.05 Comet
Power comes from the automatic Sellita for MING calibre 330.M2, offering approximately 50 hours of power reserve. The movement is visible through a sapphire caseback and features skeletonized, anthracite-finished bridges.
The watch is water-resistant to 100 metres and comes either on a cobalt-blue Jean Rousseau Paris goat-leather strap for CHF 6,950, or MING’s titanium Polymesh bracelet for CHF 7,950. Production is limited to 200 pieces.
The 57.05 Comet is a fitting ninth-anniversary statement from a young independent brand that has never been particularly interested in doing things the conventional way. More importantly, it demonstrates where MING excels: taking an established horological idea, identifying an everyday annoyance and solving it with mechanical creativity. In a category crowded with traditional worldtimers, that is precisely the sort of thinking that makes the Comet worth watching.