MING/ Dispatches: August 2025

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Our Dispatches for August comes a day late, but with good reason - it gives us immense pleasure to announce that the 20.01 Series 5 and Project 21 are finalists in this year's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve! We owe our thanks to the GPHG Academy for the nomination and to our SPC customers for making these watches a reality.

As summer starts to wind down, the city of Geneva prepares for its annual gathering of independent watchmakers, purveyors, and enthusiasts: Geneva Watch Days. Join us and our friends from the Alternative Horological Alliance at the EastWest Hotel from 4-6 September. We will have our recent launches and perhaps even a surprise or two to share - RSVP's are recommended.

Speaking of surprises - thank you to everyone who welcomed the 57.04 Iris so enthusiastically and made our eight anniversary and debut of a whole new design language memorable. If you missed the launch of the Iris, you can find out more about from Ming Thein over on our YouTube.

Our extended family also grew in August as we welcomed our first retail partner in China based out of Shenzhen and Changsha - Independent Watcher.

Artificial Intelligence has occupied a significant share of our conversations, social media feed and minds lately and the world of watches is no exception. Our friend and collector, Todd Searle, shares his thoughts on the subject and how his conversations with MT and others reframed his views over on his Substack.

To sign off this month's dispatches we look into the archives of automotive advertising and filmmaking. At the turn of the millennium, BMW commissioned several well known filmmakers such as Guy Ritchie and Wong Kar Wai to produce a series of eight short films collectively titled The Hire. These make for an engaging watch and a great case study in branded content from well before the age of social media.

Until next month,

Team MING

Meet this year's GPHG finalists !

The 20.01 Series 5 and Project 21 are finalists in this year's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve!

Both these watches, along with the 88 other finalists across 15 categories will go on tour for the GPHG Exhibition which stops in Shanghai, Istanbul, Geneva and Dubai this year. You can find the full schedule here.

MING @ Geneva Watch Days

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