Movement Matters
Selecting the right movement for a monopusher chronograph is elementary for its position in the watch world but a challenge when you, like Ming, don’t have your own manufacture. The easiest and least expensive way to cope with this is settling for a Sellita base movement with an added module for the monopusher chronograph function. This will keep the price competitive, but that advantage becomes a disadvantage when casing it in rose gold. One of the things that gives very exclusive watches their appeal is the organic bond between the movement and the rest of the watch, in which both need to be of the same rank of nobility.
To ensure this, Ming opted for the La Joux-Perret LJP5000.M1. This is an updated version of a caliber that was originally designed by Techniques Horlogères Appliqués (THA). This company was founded by three legendary watchmakers, Vianney Halter, François-Paul Journe and Denis Flageollet, the horological mastermind behind De Bethune. While their movements were used by a variety of different brands, this specific monopusher caliber is best known from Cartier’s Tortue Monopoussoir, which was part of the brand’s exclusive Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP). While the configuration of the bridges and gears indeed shows the family resemblance, the finishing of the Ming 37.04 is much more refined. In part, this is due to the fact that the Ming was launched 35 years after the Cartier Tortue Monopoussoir hit the market, but also because of the design approach Ming opted for. The bridges of the movement are more extensively skeletonized, as is the mainspring barrel. Contrast is added by giving the bridges a rose-gold coating with a matte effect thanks to sandblasting, highlighted by the chamfered edges, which are hand polished. Visually, this really brings the movement to life and creates a natural connection with the case.
The movement is relatively small, which works perfectly on the dial side but is a bit more noticeable at the back. By framing it like a painting, surrounded by the screwed rose-gold caseback with its restrained engravings, it is highlighted as the horological gem it is.