Hands-On With The New Ming 57.04 Iris Chronograph
The folks at Ming showed us a host of upcoming releases and conceptual drawings during our time with them at Time To Watches in Geneva. As the two biggest fans of the brand on the Fratello team, Balazs and I have had the difficult task of keeping our traps shut until these pieces are eventually released. Today, we can discuss perhaps the most eagerly awaited of the bunch. The 57.04 Iris Chronograph is out in the light, and for many reasons, it’s a stunner.
Whenever I review a Ming watch, I find myself mentioning the brand’s strong design DNA that runs clearly throughout its pieces. The modern, simple cases with their distinct shapes quietly whisper traces of vintage Calatravas. Scalloped lugs, however, quickly announce that it can only be a Ming on the wrist. Then, there are the dials. Each watch I’ve reviewed has been different, but the simplicity is often the link. The 57.04 Iris continues with all of these characteristics, but it ushers in a unique case design.
The Ming 57.04 Iris
The latest Ming celebrates the brand’s eighth anniversary and does so with a bang. Instead of a kitschy piece announcing the anniversary, there’s more at work. The watch is a monopusher chronograph with a left-mounted crown. But the best points, in my view, are the case design, dial, and the price. We’re used to Ming’s complicated pieces occupying the upper pricing tier. Interested parties will be happy to hear that this watch is firmly under the five-figure mark.
The 57.04 Iris is a 40mm by 47.8mm watch made of 316L stainless steel. It features a new 11.85mm-thick case design consisting of nine separate pieces. This includes a polished bezel with gentle concave and convex curves. While it may not be obvious, the recipient of this work is found on the lugs. Here, Ming has introduced a layered, three-level design.
Triple-layered lugs
Admittedly, when I saw renderings of the design in April, I wasn’t sold. It looked busy, and I was concerned that the attractively simple Ming case design would be overrun with so many details. However, I’m happy to announce that the final design is very much in keeping with the brand’s ethos. It’s clean, crisp, and beautifully executed. Each of the layers includes a polished top surface and horizontally brushed sides. A closer, focused look reveals that the inner two layers are separate pieces.
An ever-changing dial
The 57.04 Iris contains a bowl-shaped dial with relatively steep sides. It is made from machined brass, has fluted details, and is finished with a multiphasic coating. The material appears as purple or pink from straight on, but it changes drastically when viewed at an angle.
Greens and blues shine through to create a different experience. Ming clearly likens this to an eye, but it reminds me of oil on water, an oddly beautiful sight. The other noticeable detail is a black 30-minute counter at the bottom of the dial. This is a sandwich construction with Super-LumiNova X1 underneath. It shines through the counter scale and through a slim notch on the rotating central portion. I struggled to read the elapsed minutes, and as it turns out, I’m not the only one! For the prototype I spent time with, the small slot is just 0.16mm wide. On the production model, this will be twice as thick, which should allow it to be more visible.
Like many Ming watches, the 57.04 Iris contains a luminous index design etched on the underside of the sapphire crystal. The motif is cut with lasers and manually filled with the brand’s Polar White luminous material. Regarding the hands, these also present a change. The rounded and tapered shapes are familiar, but the diamond-cut hour and minute hands are blue and show an application of Super-LumiNova X1. Tonally, they’re a perfect fit for the dial.
A Sellita-based manual-winding movement
Happily, the 57.04 Iris houses a manual-winding movement. The Ming SW562.M1 is a Sellita-based caliber with a 60-hour power reserve. Notably, a crown-mounted monopusher controls the chronograph function. The movement is on display via a sapphire crystal, and it shows off an anthracite mainplate and a 4N gold three-quarter plate. Winding a “destro” movement is a relatively unorthodox activity, but thankfully, it’s a smooth one. Similarly, operating the chronograph is a pleasing experience, with a crisp clicking action.
Comfortable on the wrist
As a further nod to value, Ming is including a polished steel bracelet and a gray goatskin strip with a tuck buckle as part of the package. While I’m a huge fan of the bracelet, I found myself using the strap most of the time. Goat leather is incredibly supple but strong. It handled the case head well, and the watch never felt unbalanced. Regarding the size, I’ve primarily worn smaller Ming watches, but the 57.04 Iris wears well on account of the reasonable lug-to-lug length. Furthermore, the thickness felt entirely reasonable. All in all, the watch is commanding on the wrist, and details like the lugs and the dial truly make it stand out from the crowd.
Final thoughts
Ming will produce 100 pieces of the 57.04 Iris. Each will cost CHF 6,250, which makes it an interesting proposition. As mentioned, this is the brand’s first chronograph priced below CHF 10,000. Sure, it’s not small money, but when we consider the cost of mainstream chronographs from larger brands, they’re now often several thousand Swiss francs above this level. The Ming may not be a direct competitor against, say, a Speedmaster or a Carrera, but it does make for a confident, characterful choice. It’s also beautifully constructed. So yes, my final view on the 57.04 Iris is that the brand has once again created a standout piece that is an evolution of the well-known Ming design yet also groundbreaking. The watch is available today on the official Ming site.
