Anniversaries are to be celebrated. In life, in work, and in watches, as far as I am concerned. MING Watches apparently thinks so too and does so in true MING Style. Five years after the first watch designed by Ming Thein saw the light of day, the MING 37.04 Monopusher continues to celebrate half a decade of watchmaking under this now well-established name. With a unique style that looks little like anything else, MING has found its niche and knows how to create provocative at a relatively reasonable level. Every now and then, the brand likes to let loose a little and take things to a whole other level. To mark its fifth anniversary, MING has created the 37.04 Monopusher, with a fascinating movement inside.
In just 5 short years MING has established a unique style, with fresh shapes and details, often incorporating very creative design elements. The MING 37.04 Monopusher falls in line with previous models and is part of the Special Projects Cave, a watchmaking program to create small runs of experimental watches. The MING 37.04 uses the same grade 5 titanium case seen in other watches in the 37-series collection, which measures 38mm in diameter and 11.9mm in height. This is finished with polished and brushed surfaces and has the brand’s signature flared lugs. On top is a domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. The crown has an integrated pusher to start, stop, and reset the chronograph movement.
The dial for the MING 37.04 is another sign of the brand’s creativity. A black guilloché base dial, made by Comblemine, has a sapphire crystal cover dial with a recessed subdial for the chronograph, and luminous inlays. The outer perimeter of the dial has a printed minute track and tachymeter and pulsometer scales. The hour indices are printed on the underside of the domed sapphire crystal that covers it all, with MING’s logo at 12′. A single subdial indicates the elapsed minutes up to 30. The central hour and minute hands, as well as the chronograph hands, are finished with Super-LumiNova X1.
MING has opted for a rather special movement in the 37.04 Monopusher. The LJP5000.M1 calibre was originally designed by François-Paul Journe, Vianney Halter and Denis Flageollet and was once used in the Cartier Tortue Monopoussoir. It has been reworked by La Joux Perret to MING’s specifications, with skeletonized bridges and plates finished in a grained 5N rose gold coating. MING doesn’t communicate on specs like jewels or frequency, but the original movement used 22 jewels and ran at 21,600vph and we expect that hasn’t changed. The power reserve is about 38 hours when fully wound by hand.
The MING 37.04 Monpusher comes on a black Barenia leather strap with Ming’s keeperless stainless steel buckle. MIND adds a second strap of your choice, as well as a handmade leather travel pouch. Part of the Special Projects Cave, it is limited to 100 pieces and comes with a price tag of CHF 29,500. It will be made available exclusively through MING, with deliveries scheduled for March 2023.
For more information, please visit MING.watch
This post first appeared on Monochrome Watches - An online magazine dedicated to fine watches.
