This High-End Brand’s Most Affordable Watch Just Got Even Cooler

It’s both stealthy and attention-grabbing, if you can believe it.

a closeup of a ming watchMING

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There is no such thing as an uncool MING watch. But some are just a little bit cooler than others.

Last year, MING debuted the 37.02 Minimalist as its new entry-level watch. The 38mm sports watch featured the typical special touches we’ve come to expect from the brand — the flying lugs, minimalist design, the sapphire dial — but it also introduced something new to the brand.

It was the first watch to use MING’s proprietary Polar White lume, a unique formulation that is perhaps the only lume in the industry to glow pure white. To add even more mystique to the substance, the lume is mixed personally in-house by brand founder, Ming Thein. (Yes, really.)

a ming watch on a mans wrist
There’s now a cooler, more exclusive version of MING’s cheapest watch.
MING

The 37.02 was already a damn cool watch, but now MING has unveiled an even cooler version with the new 37.02 Monolith.

Behold, the Monolith

In MING-speak, “Monolith” refers to a blacked-out case, and that’s what we have here. This is largely the same watch as the 37.02 minimalist, but the stainless steel case has received an anthracite DLC coating and a mix of matte-blasted and brushed finishes for a stealthy aesthetic.

But this isn’t a fully blacked-out watch that will disappear in a crowd. Quite the opposite, in fact. Inspired by the success of the black-and-orange Uni diver MING launched at the start of this year, the brand has paired the new Monolith with a brightly colored Mango FKM rubber strap.

a ming watch glowing in the dark
Like the 37.02 Minimalist, the Monolith boasts MING’s proprietary Polar White lume.
MING

The bright yellow-orange rubber contrasts amazingly with the stealthy case and minimalist dial of the Monolith, creating an out-of-the-box cool factor that’s rarely seen.

Outside of the new strap and case treatment, this is physically the same 37.02 as before. It still has the sapphire dial with laser-cut markers liquid-filled with Polar White lume, it still features blue-glowing BGW9 Super-LumiNova on the hands for better contrast, and it’s still powered by Sellita’s SW300 automatic movement that’s been custom-made for MING with anthracite-coated skeletonized bridges and rotor.

the caseback of a ming watch
The anthracite DLC case perfectly matches the anthracite coating on the custom Sellita movement’s skeletonized bridges and rotor.
MING

Pricing and Availability

The only other differences between the Minimalist and Monolity are related to price and availability. The idea behind the Monolith was to create a special version of the 37.02 for insiders and megafans of the brand that was more exclusive than the Minimalist, which was the first regular-production MING and is intended to always be in stock.

Therefore, the Monolith is limited to just 100 examples per year and is priced CHF 250 higher than the Minimalist at CHF 3,500, which as of this writing converts to $4,369.

a ming watchMING

MING 37.02 Monolith

Specs

Case Size 38mm
Movement Sellita for MING SW300.M1 automatic
Water Resistance 100m
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