I don’t think it’s hyperbole, exactly, to say that one of the things I saw in Geneva last week that I was most excited about was an accessory from a brand that wasn’t even officially exhibiting during Watches & Wonders week. On our first day on the ground in Geneva, sleep deprived and somewhat deliriously walking through the Beau Rivage with no appointments even on the books, we ran into a Ming team member outside a suite, who was happy to show us a number of things we can’t yet talk about that he was carrying around in his bag. That’s the kind of interaction that makes Watches & Wonders week special, in my opinion. Chance encounters, seeing things that are great that you never would have expected to.
One of those goodies pulled from that bag is something we can talk about, as of today. The Ming Polymesh bracelet, which we first covered here, has been one of those objects of pure fascination since I first handled it at Geneva Watch Days in the late summer of last year. Now, for the first time, Ming has created a product that is meant to work with watches outside of the Ming catalog with the Polymesh – Straight, a version of the bracelet with straight end pieces that can fit any watch with a 20mm lug width.
Of course the previous version of the Polymesh could also be used with watches outside of Ming’s own ecosystem, but the curved spring bars were a limiting factor. Ming’s decision to make a product that is expressly designed for non-Ming watches feels like a significant step for the brand, and also an acknowledgement of the bracelet’s popularity in the watch community. Note that they created a universal version of the titanium bracelet before coming to market with a steel version, or a black coated version, for other Ming watches.
A quick refresher on the bracelet itself: it contains a total of 1,742 interconnected pieces, manufactured via a 3D printing process (powder-bed laser sintering, to be precise) using grade 5 titanium. The bracelet contains no pins or screws as all elements are printed simultaneously as a single unit. The end result is a metal bracelet that feels like a fabric. It’s impossibly flexible and kind of defies logic. It’s one of those things that you hold in your hands (and put on your wrist) that you can’t quite make sense of, but you know it represents a significant engineering feat.
I’ve been interested in adding a Polymesh bracelet to my own collection since it was introduced, not just for the Ming watches I own, but for a number of others that I think it would be a great match for. Once you experience the bracelet on the wrist, it gets the mind working, thinking about how it might improve or simply change the wearing experience for other watches. The straight link version makes that a real possibility. We hope to have a sample on hand soon to test it out with some non-Ming watches.
Initially, the Polymesh – Straight will be available through Ming and two of their partners in the Alternative Horological Alliance, Fears and Massena LAB. After a one week period, availability will expand to Ming’s retail partners around the world. Pricing is set at CHF 1,500. Ming
Zach Kazan
2026-04-23 13:00:00