The Monochrome Spirit of the New Ming 37.02 Ghost

Renowned for its contemporary and minimalist designs, Ming, the indie watch brand founded by Malaysian photographer Ming Thein in 2017, has gone from strength to strength. Design is king at Ming, and a common design thread runs through all the collections, ranging from time-only to sophisticated chronographs and from world timers to dive watches. Following in the footsteps of the Ming 37.02 Minimalist, the new Ming 37.02 Ghost is a straightforward time-only model that plays with brushed textures to coax light and shadows from the grade 2 titanium case and dial.

While Ming’s names for its models get no points for creativity, the occasional suffix attached to the numeral in some references is particularly helpful. In this case, the Ghost suffix alludes to the watch’s lightweight, ethereal personality cloaked from head to toe in grey. The Ming 37.02 Ghost belongs to the 37-series, a collection characterised by its 38mm case sizes with complex curves, a large notched crown and the flared, pagoda-style lugs.

The case is made of grade 2 (not grade 5) titanium, a more pure form of titanium (99.8%) with excellent corrosion resistance that is far more difficult to machine due to its ductility and low elastic modulus. In layman’s terms, the material is more flexible and can deform under stress. Another property of grade 2 titanium is that it cannot be polished. Used to craft the case, dial, and buckle, Ming Thein has produced different surface textures relying exclusively on brushed finishes applied in various directions.

Measuring 38mm across with a thickness of 11mm, the titanium case is brushed throughout. This matte finish produces a raw industrial effect in line with Ming Thein’s vision of “architecturally finished (i.e. not polished) metallic surfaces” for this watch. As mentioned, grade 2 titanium is present throughout the watch and used to create the concave dial. The dial’s centre is decorated with circular brushing, and the sloping flange with radial brushing, producing surprisingly shiny and bright surfaces. In low light conditions, the brushed decoration of the dial glows blue thanks to the deposits of Super-LumiNova X1 applied to the hands and crystal.

Although the 37.02 Ghost cannot compete with the 8.8-gram weight of the LW.01, the use of grade 2 titanium throughout has produced a featherlight watch weighing just 35 grams. Another surprising discovery was the unexpected water resistance of the watch. While it is nowhere near the 600m depth rating of the 37.09 Bluefin, the optimised internal engineering and pressure-balanced domed crystals of the 37.02 Ghost surpassed the initial 100m calculations and resisted pressure of 260m. As the brand points out, the decision to print a lower 100m water-resistance rating on the caseback was “an inside joke to our engineering paranoia.”

Visible on the caseback is a customised Sellita SW300-1 automatic (a clone of the ETA 2892) with skeletonised bridges and plates. This automatic movement runs at a frequency of 28,800vph and has a running time of approximately 45 hours. All the bridges, plates and rotor are finished with an anthracite coating.

Sticking to the strict monochrome theme, the matching grey goat leather strap is fitted with a grade 2 titanium pin buckle. The Ming 37.02 Ghost is a limited edition of 250 watches and is available for CHF 3,500 from ming.watch or authorised retail partners. Deliveries begin immediately.