The coolest thing I saw at Geneva Watch Days that I wasn’t allowed to talk about publicly is finally here. This week, Ming introduced a new bracelet concept they’re calling the Polymesh, and with its release it immediately became one of the most interesting products in a catalog full of boundary pushing designs.
If you zoom out, what we have here is fairly easy to understand: it’s a 3D printed titanium bracelet. We’re pretty accustomed to 3D printing in watchmaking at this point, with recent releases from Holthinrichs and Apiar serving as recognizable touchpoints for what the technology is currently capable of. As with any other type of manufacturing, there are degrees to the level of quality and complexity depending on how the printing is done and what your goals are, more generally. Of course, in the case of Holtinrichs and Apiar, it’s the cases that are being created using a 3D printing process, and any watch you’d cite as an example has tell-tale signatures that it was made with additive manufacturing, whether that’s a rough finish or angles and shapes that would be otherwise impossible to achieve.
A bracelet, though, is a whole other ball of wax. It’s worth pointing out that Holthinrichs has made a 3D printed titanium bracelet in the past, so the idea that Ming has here with the Polymesh isn’t unprecedented. The execution, though, is pretty original. The Polymesh is made up of 1,693 individual components, all held together without the aid of pins or screws. According to Ming, the distance between individual pieces of metal on the bracelet is as small as 70 microns, and much attention is paid to finishing links to remove the surface imperfections that are common with this type of manufacturing process so that everything can articulate cleanly.
And that articulation is really the magic of this bracelet. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s metal, and it feels like metal in the hand, but it twists and moves like fabric. In fact, I’d say the movement is more satisfying and supple than many of the fabric straps I’ve worn in the past (the cheap ones always feel stiff). There is a “wow” factor with this bracelet that is pretty rare, even at an event like Geneva Watch Days where many high end brands are showing off the coolest things they’re working on.
The question becomes, then, what is the application for a bracelet like this? I think certainly that it’s very sport oriented given its weight and flexibility. But it needs a similarly light and sporty watch to match. The Polymesh is very thin, so a bulky, top heavy sports watch would not be a good match here. The prototype we had an opportunity to handle last month also had some issues to be worked out with the clasp and simply making it easier to put on and take off, but we certainly expect that the production version will solve little issues like that. Currently the bracelet is only available in a 20mm lug width, but a 22mm version is in the works, and a steel version is reportedly coming at some point as well.
The retail price of the Polymesh bracelet is $2,000. Production is said to be very limited, with deliveries beginning before the end of the year. Ming
Zach Kazan
2025-10-20 18:00:00