I did not  like the Ming 37.09 Uni dive watch on first sight. Or second sight for that matter.

Ming 37.09 Uni on the wrist

The ‘industrial’ – to my eyes – rather than elegant ‘chunky’ white minute ring, while practical i.e., highly visible, which is good for a dive watch. Just didn’t work for me.

MING 37.9 Bluefin

And: I liked the same chapter ring on the 2024 GPHG Sports’ Watch winning Ming 37.09 Bluefin.

But after a couple of days I looked at the dial again and decided that I liked it. The darkness of the dial really changes with the light source and angle.

Ming 37.09 Uni lume shot

What do you think and let me know if your impressions change in the comments below.

Ming 37.09 Uni

From the press release:

Connoisseurs love sushi, and the stomachs of the Ming team are no exception: the 37.09 Bluefin, recently awarded the Sports Watch Prize at GPHG 2024, is proof of this.

To celebrate the win, we’ve decided to serve a portion of tuna’s more exotic oceanmate in the form of the 37.09 Uni.

Ming 37.09 Uni lume front and back

Sea urchin, or uni in Japanese, has morphed from a prosaic necessity into a highly sought after delicacy. It also remains a largely acquired taste – it’s briny, sweet, and a little funky with a blast of umami that contrasts with its buttery softness.

It is usually served in a gunkan-maki – over rice, wrapped in seaweed to keep it all together – and seasonings are minimal to give center stage to the sweetness of the uni.

Those who’ve seen a sea urchin in the wild or at the market will know it’s best thought of as durable: it has a hard black shell, toxic spines, and guards its glistening orange treasures jealously.

Though they are primarily reliant on currents to help them move, they’ve been found all over the world from the surface to the deep hadalpelagic zone below 6000m. Let’s just say they are deep divers.

Ming 37.09 Uni

Like the sea urchin, our 37.09 Uni is a black-DLC armored dive watch with orange highlights, and an inspiration or two from its namesake. We enjoy it as a palate cleansing break from the rest of the collection, but remain confident in its survival abilities thanks to its 38mm DLC- coated case that’s cleverly engineered, ensuring pressure balancing and water resistance to 600m with a sapphire caseback.

Ming 37.09 Uni

Like the Bluefin, it has a rotating sapphire Ming dial that can be operated underwater.

Ming 37.09 Uni lume shot

The Uni introduces a new design for the hour indices, carries an abundance of Super- LumiNova on the dial, top crystal and hands, and is the first Ming to have orange emission Super-LumiNova – to echo its namesake.

Ming 37.09 Uni front and back

Ensuring optimal reliability is an automatic Sellita for Ming SW300.M1 in a unique finish.

As any doctor will tell you, you can have too much uni and so we’re rationing ourselves to a limited portion – with only 150 of the 37.09 Unis available this year.

Ming 37.09 Uni lume shot

Watches will be available from www.ming.watch on 23 January, 1PM GMT for CHF 5,250.

Ming 37.09 Uni Specifications:

• Functions:
  • Hours, minutes and seconds
  • Internal 60-click timer scale on unidirectional rotating dial, via crown at 4
  • Automatic winding
• Case, dial & hands:
  • 38mm diameter, 8mm thickness, 44.5mm lug-to-lug
  • 316L stainless steel, with a matte-brushed finish, DLC coated
  • Domed sapphire crystals front and rear, with double-sided antireflective coating
  • Super-LumiNova X1 indices inside top crystal, and on sapphire dial
  • Super-LumiNova X1 coated hands
  • 600m water resistance with additional safety factor
  • 20mm lug width
• Movement:
  • Sellita for Ming M1, anthracite skeletonized bridges and rotor with contrast circular brushing
  • Automatic winding with ~50hr power reserve at full wind
  • Hacking seconds for setting
• Straps
  • New moulded FKM rubber strap
  • 20mm width, curved bars with quick release
  • Fitted with DLC coated ‘flying blade’ tuck buckle with micro adjustment
• 2-year warranty against defects
• Made in Switzerland
• Pricing and availability
  • CHF 5,250
  • 150 watches produced in 2025

Ming continually aims to improve products where possible to improve aesthetics and functionality; to this end we reserve the right to make minor changes prior to final delivery

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