Ming 18.01 H41 Arrived!

[thesingularity7]

So my Ming 18.01 H41 arrived a few days ago, and they met their estimate perfectly and I received it on the 30th of Nov, in accordance with their late-Nov/early-Dec estimate. They have been very responsive throughout the process too, which was a refreshing change from most low-end micro-brands I typically deal with.

The watch is fantastic, with excellent build and very good finishing. Unfortunately I'm not too impressed by the bracelet (and how it supplements this watch), but I added a rubber strap to my order and the strap is excellent.

I plan on doing a detailed review over the next 10 days, but here are some pictures!

[mongrelnomoad]

Gorgeous watch. What don't you like about the bracelet? They made such a song and dance about it...

[Oyster Sauce]

Very cool - congrats! So elegant, yet somehow retro futuristic looking. Reminds me of the movie Tron, in the very best sense. Wear in good health!

[p_mcgee]

wow, very nice - congrats!

[athens7]

I'm also interested in hearing about the bracelet. I have ordered one to go with my 27.01.

[thesingularity7]

Originally Posted by Oyster Sauce

Very cool - congrats! So elegant, yet somehow retro futuristic looking. Reminds me of the movie Tron, in the very best sense. Wear in good health!

Thank you! It is definitely very Tron-like, and as a sci-fi nerd, I love it!

Originally Posted by p_mcgee

wow, very nice - congrats!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by mongrelnomoad

Gorgeous watch. What don't you like about the bracelet? They made such a song and dance about it...

Originally Posted by athens7

I'm also interested in hearing about the bracelet. I have ordered one to go with my 27.01.

I'd like to go into detail in my review, but I'll keep it simple for now:

1. This is supposed to be a dive watch, which indicates (in my opinion) some sort of practical and functional use case. The use of a butterfly clasp, with no micro-adjustment or on-the-go quick adjust on a dive watch that costs upwards of $3.5k is disappointing. I've been going back and forth with all kinds of combinations of half-links and full links to try and get a perfect fit, but it always end up too tight, or with too much slack.

The bracelet has both half and 2/3 links that allow for fine adjustment in 2.5mm increments, and the clasp is easily reversible depending on whether you prefer to close the 6 or 12 o’clock ends first.

Also quoting the Ming website - I have no idea what they mean by half and 2/3 links, but there's only two kinds of links on this bracelet.

2. They did make a song and dance about the lack of fitted end links, and all our favorite watch journalists sang and danced to their tune without actually calling it out for what it really is - a shortcut. I don't blame Ming for this, since custom tooling for dedicated bracelets for each watch is going to be extremely expensive, specially on small batches of 10-20 watches. A universal bracelet fixes that problem, but to say that this was done with design and functionality in mind doesn't sound entirely genuine to me.

That said, the build quality of the bracelet is excellent. The links are very well machined, and the actual comfort (if you can get the right fit) is excellent and feels a lot like a well constructed beads of rice bracelet. I put the bracelet on my 17.01 and it feels a lot more appropriate there and I can definitely appreciate it more on that watch. But for this diver, it feels half baked. At $550, and from a brand that takes pride in forward thinking and innovative design, this bracelet doesn't cut it from me. And they should maybe take some cues from Hanhart ($270 - https://shop.hanhart.com/en/straps-a...ap-20-mm?c=125) and Formex ($300 - https://usd.formexwatch.com/products...steel-bracelet), which are two of the best metal bracelets I've experienced on a watch south of $4000.

That said, this watch is absolutely stunning and will eventually cleanse the palette of the poor taste left behind by this bracelet, and it might find a permanent spot on the lugs of the 17.01.

[enjoythemusic]

Love the style both lume and daylight. Congrats OP!

[Pw92676]

Great lume. Enjoy!

[cavalier]

Very cool. Congrats!

[thesingularity7]

I just published my review of this watch after 3 weeks of ownership here - https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?p=11145647

Long story short - great design, good build quality, disappointing bracelet, excellent bezel action, awesome lume, mediocre movement that developed a common issue less than 1 week in. Now I'm stuck waiting for Schwarz Etienne to get back from their winter break to send it in for service.

Could've been a nicer experience, specially after waiting for 4 months. But the watch is a thing of beauty.

[christianj]

One just sold in the Phillips auction for CHF 13,860!!!!! Some crazy prices in the auction,

https://www.phillips.com/detail/ming/CH080121/90

[enjoythemusic]

wow, and good for Ming!

[ts3]

Originally Posted by christianj

One just sold in the Phillips auction for CHF 13,860!!!!! Some crazy prices in the auction,

https://www.phillips.com/detail/ming/CH080121/90

All the while they go on ebay for less than half but this one was probably just a rounding error for those bidding on the big lots...

[uniqueMR]

Congrats