Watches entered into the Challenge category are offered for a retail price under 4,000 Swiss francs. This is perhaps the most popular category as it’s for watches that more people can afford, and the competition is tough. Which explains why our panel of five has three different picks for the winner.
The GPHG Diver’s category contains watches linked to the field of diving, whose functions, materials, and design are suited to this activity. Diver’s watches are fairly straightforward and the most successful ones tend look very much alike. However most of our panelists selected a winner from the outfield that looked very different to the norm.
Just when Joshua Munchow thought he was out, Ming Watches pulled him back in! The brand is (still) on a roll with two pieces having been nominated for the final round of the 2020 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève plus a new concept featuring an AgenGraphe chronograph movement by Agenhor. Here Joshua checks out the GPHG contenders, Ming’s 18.01 and 27.01, two very different watches.
Incoming! If there’s a happier word in the watch enthusiast’s vernacular, GaryG is not sure what it is. After several months in the queue, he recently received the happy news that his Model 17.06 Monolith from the Ming Watches team had arrived. Here he shares why he bought it and what he thinks of it after wearing for several months.
The GPHG Challenge category should probably more accurately be called the “Bang For Your Buck” category because this really is where you can see just how much watch you can get for your hard-earned dollar. But our panel is quite split on which watch delivers the most for the least.
It was with great interest (as a watch enthusiast) and some trepidation (as a humble photography student of polymath Ming Thein) that GaryG took on the task of photographing a pre-production example of Ming’s latest, Model 19.02 GMT.
Ming was fast out of the gate in establishing itself as a serious new contender at the more affordable end of independent watchmaking, and I believe the debut of the all-new 17.03 GMT indicates that this young brand is on a roll. This latest model was designed to be the new entry level star for Ming, checking all the boxes that the team behind it would want in a sub-$2,000 travel watch.
The name Ming Thein should be instantly recognizable (seriously) to any ardent purveyor of all things horological, and his new brand, Ming, has made a name for itself in record time. The new 19.01 features an exclusive Schwarz-Etienne 100-hour skeletonized movement, a stunning design, and an exciting glimpse into what we might expect in the future.