The Ming 37.02 Minimalist is one of those watches where you don’t know what to expect, even if I had experienced the comfort of the brand’s 38mm case design beforehand. But what about the pared-back aesthetics? My expectations were mixed, with founder Ming Thein’s photography background imbuing the brand’s images with a dark mystery.

The 37.02 returns to the brand’s minimalist roots, but my on-wrist perceptions were multi-faceted. It is hewn from 316L steel and is the first in-house designed and engineered watch from their new Swiss entity. The immediate feeling is one of sleek comfort, with that elusive quality of instant familiarity. These two stars were awarded straight out of the box for the Ming 37.02 Minimalist, setting the standard pretty damn high.

First impressions on the Ming 37.02 Minimalist

If you know the brand, you will be aware of its no-compromise aesthetic, which is exactly what we need to offset a world of retro-similies. The Ming 37.02 Minimalist is eminently comfortable, balancing familiarity and brand reference identity. This is easier when your watches are based on safe sixties dive watch designs, but Ming watches inhabit a separate genre of minimalism.

The slim case, detail execution and drama of flared lugs stand out, as does the tuck-under buckle design. However, each model intensely focuses on dial design, severe in modernity without the usual polished, faceted indexes, numerals, or sub-dials. Instead, each base detail is perfected. The use of sapphire for the dial is a noticeable difference that sets most Ming designs apart, including the Ming 37.02. You’ll also spot family traits from the 2021 model year 37.05 and the 37.07 and .04 from 2022. Each model stands out with striking dials, but the 37.02 is Ming distilled, like a brand essence. The slim 11 mm case makes it a dressy-cool proposition while exhibiting chameleonic qualities most brands only dream of.

You’ll nod approvingly if you’re into small watches as the short-lugged 44.5mm x 38mm case settles on your wrist. This makes for superb everyday usability, enhanced by the shape-moulded FKM strap (the king of rubbers) that embraces you. The strap has curved ends like all Ming straps but is not affixed to the case with the internal strengthening seen on many sports and diver’s watches. This avoids the usual flare-out effect of a curved rubber strap, which will make a watch wear larger instead of hugging your wrist. It is also reassuringly thick at the case end, while tapering dramatically both in width and thickness, allowing for the sleek tuck-under design of the buckle.

Ming’s new Minimalist is much more refined and deeper than what it looks like at first glance

Wearing the Ming 37.02 Minimalist for a couple of days — hell, even after five minutes, will make you experience some of the best ergonomics in the business. That includes a frankly exquisite scalloped, wave-shaped clasp equipped with twin apertures. This allows the quick-release strap to tuck under the clasp end, proving an obsessive approach to watch design and freeing the strap of keepers altogether.  

The carefully brushed case has enough curvature in its dramatic top-polished lugs to hug a small wrist while feeling just right on my medium 18cm number. A quite dressy-slim vibe is balanced by the casual, tougher look of the scalloped FKM rubber, while the large crown contributes to the juxtaposed look. Adding a broad choice of alternative straps from Ming makes for one hell of a chameleon, easily adapting to your style. 

The serene, sapphire dial has seemingly random triple-circular patterns that’ll trick your eye as the gloss surface inverts from pure black to an illusory silvery white in the light.  The dynamic pattern surrounds two soft-shaped Ming hands with liberal X-1 Super-Luminova emitting a blue glow, and the circular markings have more to unpack.  Look closer, and you’ll see the stops between the semi-circular shapes marking the hour and five-minute marks exactly, and all are engraved into the sapphire, liquid filled with a crisp white lume. This results from Ming Thein obsessively searching for a luminescent compound that emanates a pure white glow and is an industry first. 

Powering the Ming 37.02 is a darkly different Sellita SW300, a ‘Sellita for Ming’ design. It features anthracite skeletonised bridgework and a customised rotor. It’s a step up in refinement compared to the basic SW300 and is one of Ming’s releases where the movement is beside the point. The Ming 37.02 Minimalist is a good everyday watch with a sleek, monochrome difference. Ming’s latest efforts have moved up the grail ladder, and this is a welcome return to accessible purity. For me, it is simply one of the best minimalist timepieces to emerge this year, and at CHF3,250, it is both accessible price-wise and physically stocked for the first time.

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Tech Specs: Ming 37.02 Minimalist

Movement: Automatic-winding Sellita for MING SW300.M1; 45-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 38mm × 11mm; stainless steel; water-resistant to 100m
Dial: Sapphire crystal dial inset with liquid-filled MING Polar White luminous indices
Strap: MING FKM black rubber
Price: CHF 3,250