The latest from Ming is a collaboration that I think most enthusiasts could never have predicted, but makes quite a bit sense when you take a few steps back and look at the participants from a high level. The new 37.06 Royal Selangor is a new limited edition made in partnership with Royal Selangor, the well known pewter manufacturer, by some accounts the largest in the world. Both brands have roots in Kuala Lumpur, and the collaboration took shape after Ming Thein helped a client collect his camera, reskinned by Royal Selangor in Malaysia. Thein and Royal Selangor CEO Yong Yoon Li shared a meal, and that was enough to generate the seeds of a collaborative watch.
Pewter is not commonly used in watchmaking. Used since antiquity to craft a variety of objects including decorative metal items and tableware of all kinds, it is an alloy that is largely made from tin, which is highly malleable and has a low melting point. That makes it relatively easy to work with compared with some metal alloys, but the process is necessarily undertaken largely by hand, which opens up all kinds of craft opportunities which is what Royal Selangor excels at. Pewter does not generally tarnish or corrode, but it does develop a patina after long periods of use.
The 37.06 Royal Selangor features a pewter dial with a hammered texture, similar to those used in Ming watches in the past. According to Ming, the filing, polishing, and finishing of pewter is all traditionally done by hand, even now at a time when modern machining technologies make pewter production a lot more efficient. The conceit of this watch in particular is that the warmth of the pewter presents a contrast to the cool nature of the titanium 37 series case. In that sense, it feels a bit like the flipside of last year’s 37.02 Ghost, which used the same titanium case and a complementary titanium dial.
That case remains the not-so-secret weapon in Ming’s current catalog. Many of my personal favorite Ming watches are part of that 37 series lineup, simply because the case is so well proportioned and easy to wear. Here, the execution is one in all brushed titanium that weighs just 35.9 grams. It measures 38mm in diameter, 11.05mm thick, and 44.73mm from lug to lug. The case is water resistant to 100 meters and the caseback is engraved with the wordmarks of both Ming and Royal Selangor.
The Ming 37.06 Royal Selangor is a limited edition of 88 pieces and priced at CHF 5,000. The watch is mounted to a blue-grey goat leather strap by Jean Rousseau. The coolest thing about this LE? It will arrive in a pewter presentation box with a hammered finish to match the dial, created of course by Royal Selangor in Kuala Lumpur.
More information can be found on the Ming website here.
