Two of the founding members of the Alternative Horological Alliance finally come together to make their first watch, after working on manufacturing bracelets and cases. At first, it may seem an odd collaboration, given the vast divide in house style, but on second thought, that was clearly just a case of underestimating the pair. So, how exactly does the Ming x J.N. Shapiro 37.06 Lightning come together?
What is it?
It’s fair to say that the 37.06 Lightning is a lot more Ming than it is Shapiro, but that’s no bad thing. The 38mm case and its signature, outwards-turned lugs are rendered in stainless steel, the domed sapphire crystal is first engraved and then filled with Ming’s HyCeram lume in place of classic indices – but you’re not here to read about those, are you?
So, about those dials then. They start off as grade 2 titanium blanks in Shapiro’s LA workshops, where they’re engine-turned by that very skilled team with the “lightning” guilloché pattern. As far as those go, this is far from a traditional take, and a lot more livelier and akin to the dials we’ve seen recently from Awake. As you’d expect with any hand-made project, especially one so intricate, the failure rate is quite high, though it only gets more stringent from here. The engraved dials get shipped to Ming Thein in Kuala Lumpur, where he personally heats each one with a butane torch – the same one you’d use to toast the sugar atop your crème brûlée, except you’re now brûlée-ing the result of thousands of hours of training to become a guilloché master capable of creating such a pattern. No pressure.
The concentrated heat turns the titanium into cascading shades of purple, blue, orange, and red, and as you’d expect from such a process, each dial is unique – and only about 30% make the final cut anyway. As impressive (and impressively wasteful) as that process is, that means that there’s going to be a whole heap of unused, “ruined” Shapiro dials sitting somewhere deep in Ming’s vaults. Bet you we’ll see those on a special project sooner or later…
The screw-on caseback bears the names of the two dial-makers, and shows off the customised Sellita SW210.M1, specially decorated for Ming’s purposes with skeletonised bridges and a contrasting finish of rhodium and anthracite coatings. Spec-wise, it’s a relatively simple 18-jewel movement with a manually topped-up 42-hour power reserve. While Ming doesn’t specify it, the expected accuracy for Sellita’s usual four grades of the SW210 ranges between +/-30 and +/-15 seconds per day.
First impressions
Something I’ve realised about Ming of late is how prolific the brand seems to be coming up with novel ideas. Sure, there are several throughlines here in terms of design and signatures, but considering the brand’s scale, the fact that they released nine new models in 2025 (and already have four in 2026) is downright impressive. The 37.06 does a great job Ming-ifying the respected work of a true guilloché artist, with the element of whimsy that’s quite unique to the brand.
I won’t lie, I’m still not fully accustomed to their naming conventions, but that hardly detracts from how good the watches actually are. I’m not the first nor the last to laud their rise from a peppy micro (can you believe the Ming 17.01 was just US$900??) to a multiple-time GPHG-winning independent brand, but it’s watches like these that make it happen – I mean, how fantastic is that lume?
Ming x J.N. Shapiro 37.06 Lightning pricing and full specifications
The Ming x Shapiro collaboration will be available in small quantities for immediate dispatch on June 5th at 13:00 GMT, 23:00 AEST. From then on, the duo is aiming to produce around 10 watches per month, available through Ming’s website and authorised dealers. Price: CHF 6,250 (~A$11,200)
