Worn & Wound
Ming Introduces the 37.06 Royal Selangor, a Limited Edition with a Hammered Pewter Dial
The latest from Ming is a collaboration that I think most enthusiasts could never have predicted, but makes quite a bit sense when you take a few steps back and look at the participants from a high level. The new 37.06 Royal Selangor is a new limited edition made in partnership with Royal Selangor, the well known pewter manufacturer, by some accounts the largest in the world. Both brands have roots in Kuala Lumpur, and the collaboration took shape after Ming Thein helped a client collect his camera, reskinned by Royal Selangor in Malaysia. Thein and Royal Selangor CEO Yong Yoon Li shared a meal, and that was enough to generate the seeds of a collaborative watch. Pewter is not commonly used in watchmaking. Used since antiquity to craft a variety of objects including decorative metal items and tableware of all kinds, it is an alloy that is largely made from tin, which is highly malleable and has a low melting point. That makes it relatively easy to work with compared with some metal alloys, but the process is necessarily undertaken largely by hand, which opens up all kinds of craft opportunities which is what Royal Selangor excels at. Pewter does not generally tarnish or corrode, but it does develop a patina after long periods of use. The 37.06 Royal Selangor features a pewter dial with a hammered texture, similar to those used in Ming watches in the past. According to Ming, the filing, polishing, and finishing of pewter is all traditionally done by hand, even now at a tim...