My Geneva Watch Days meeting with Ming Thein was easily one of my favorites of that whirlwind week. It was one of those hours where you’re presented with watch, after watch, after watch, and you kind of can’t help but get lost in all of the cool stuff you’re seeing. Ming was incredibly kind to pull out watches that have been out (and sold out) for years, just so I could get a look at random pieces here and there from throughout the brand’s history that I may have missed. Seeing the full scope of the brand, though, is important in understanding the newest piece, one that I saw under embargo in that meeting, that Ming is incredibly proud of. The 37.02 Minimalist is not the flashiest or most expensive Ming, but it feels like a watch that sees the brand entering a new and exciting phase.
According to the brand, the 37.02 is the first watch in the Ming catalog to be designed, engineered, and managed by Horologer Ming SA, the brand’s new Swiss entity. Horologer Ming SA was created in an effort to streamline and internalize Ming’s complex engineering and production processes while maintaining as much control as possible over the supply chain. This, ultimately, is what the brand hopes will lead to the shorter lead times that their collectors (and would-be collectors) have been asking for for years.
That’s exemplified nicely in the 37.02, a watch that leans on core Ming design characteristics that have been developed since the brand’s founding, while also pushing ahead in new and unexpected ways. The big development here is the use of a new “Polar White” lume compound that glows white. When charged, the material emits light in all wavelengths, giving off an eerie white glow that is not merely tinted to appear white. Ming says this is very likely the only luminous material in the world to glow a true white, and it was the product of moving the brand’s engineering and production work in-house (Ming tried for years to develop a similar material with external sources, but was largely unsuccessful).
As the name of the watch implies, the dial has a feeling of spareness throughout that lets the new lume compound speak for itself. The dial is sapphire with channels along the perimeter that have been inset with Polar White lume, acting as hour and minute markers. For contrast, the classic Ming hands have been coated with traditional blue Super-LumiNova X1 material.
The case is stainless steel, and measures 38mm in diameter and 11mm tall. It features all of the hallmarks of what we’ve come to expect from a Ming case, including a mix of finishing techniques, the brand’s distinctive lug design, and a surprising robustness (the 37.02 is good to a depth rating of 100 meters). It ships on black rubber strap, also a Ming design, that feels like a perfect match to the case shape and design. Ming is every bit as proud of these straps as he is of the watches themselves, and wearing one for even a minute, you can see why. They have a softness and flexibility to them that is uncommon, and are molded in such a way that they conform to and feel great on just about any wrist shape.
With the 37.02 being the first watch produced under Horologer Ming SA, you’d expect, perhaps, to see “Swiss Made” somewhere on the dial. Even though many of the 37.02’s components (including the movement, a customized Sellita SW300) are sourced and assembled in Switzerland, it does not qualify as “Swiss Made” because to have that designation a watch must be “designed and engineered” in Switzerland. This part of the process is completed by Ming in Kuala Lumpur, a choice made by Ming because it allows the brand to be as efficient as possible. The fact that these watches are produced through an effort that reaches around the globe is itself an interesting component to the story behind them, as is the reasoning that the “Swiss Made” mark can’t legally be included on the watch dial. It seems to be a trade off that Ming is happy to make, and I think this watch (and Ming’s strategy) stand as a great example of how “Swiss Made” is not the final arbiter of quality, and as a label can be greatly misleading.
The 37.02 launches today and is priced at CHF 3,250. They are available to ship immediately (told you they were working on those lead times). Ming
