Streaking Through The Heavens With The New Ming 57.05 Comet
Well, you never know what you’ll find when opening an email from Ming. This time, it’s the new 57.05 Comet, a stirring take on a worldtimer with a couple of party tricks up its sleeve. While I haven’t seen this watch in the metal, I’ve certainly spent enough time with the brand’s other offerings to offer thoughts on this exciting new model.
While Ming watches frequently debut in simple forms, something seems to be abuzz with the popular cult brand from Malaysia. We’ve witnessed several complicated pieces over the last year, including a new chronograph and a dive watch with a GMT indicator. Now, the brand has returned with a unique flavor of worldtimer. Folks, one look at this watch, and I can say that I’m here for it.
The Ming 57.05 Comet
The latest Ming release celebrates the brand’s ninth anniversary and uses a case design that debuted a year ago. The triple-stepped stainless steel design was first seen on the 57.04 Iris monopusher chronograph and has returned for a very different venture. Here, the watch is a 40 × 47.8 × 10.33mm worldtimer with a sneaky bezel. More on that later, but suffice it to say that all the utility we’re used to with Ming is here. This means that the crystal is box-style sapphire and the watch has 100m water resistance. From a wearability standpoint, a blue Jean Rousseau strap with the company’s marvelous tuck buckle is available alongside the brilliant titanium Polymesh.
Solving a small but typical problem
With the 57.05 Comet, Ming chose to solve a nagging issue many of us face. Whether you travel or find yourself on endless Teams calls (that’s me), daylight saving time can be an annoyance. Not every country changes its clocks! Therefore, Ming kept the cities that remain constant on an inner bezel that rotates via the crown. The outer bezel, however, has the cities that observe DST. A small click of the bezel shifts the time in these cities by an hour, making it easy to know the time there. While simple, it’s also an elegant solution. Twisting the bezel also reveals a window that shows red when DST is on and silver for standard time. Arresting Super-LumiNova X1 is used throughout the watch to great effect.
The dial represents the tail of a comet
Interestingly, Ming cites the de Havilland Comet as the inspiration for the watch’s name. This was the first commercial jet, so the callout makes sense for global travelers. However, a more overt ode to the astronomical occurrence is present on the dial. When adjusting the inner bezel, the multilayered blue raster dial shifts. The resulting white spaces are meant to resemble a comet’s tail. We’ve come to expect dial wizardry from Ming, and the 57.05 Comet doesn’t disappoint.
Sellita scores again as the movement supplier
Once again, Ming chose Sellita as its movement partner. The watch uses an automatic Sellita 330.M2 with a 50-hour power reserve and a 28,800vph frequency. As expected, the caliber has skeletonized, brushed, anthracite-coated bridges over a matching anthracite-coated baseplate. It’s visible via a sapphire-equipped display back.
Final thoughts, pricing, and availability
With the Ming 57.05 Comet, the smallish brand has done something special. Aesthetically, the watch reminds me of the ultra-collectible Patek Philippe 1415. Yet, the design is fresh, and the complication is enjoyably simple. Sadly, the brand will make just 200 of these, and they go on sale on August 27th at 01:00 GMT. Pricing-wise, expect to pay CHF 6,950 for the watch with a leather strap and CHF 7,950 with a Polymesh bracelet. No, that’s not throwaway money, but the design, thoughtful innovation, and limited nature should ensure that the allotment finds homes.
