Dialogues: Ming Thein’s Journey to The Top

The metaphorical gilded fence built by Swiss watch manufactures to preserve their secrets, prestige, and identity, to many, feel formidable, impregnable, and intimidating. Don’t be alarmed, however, for it only seems that way because that’s exactly how they were designed. We won’t get into lengthy debates on Genevan maisons’ ambitions to conserve themselves (and their watchmakers) to maintain a firm grip on the industry (though the subject is, in and of itself a fascinating one), however, as proponents of watch culture being a democracy, we elect it our duty to highlight those who managed to break through these barriers and become forces to be reckoned with. 

As you, dear reader, could probably tell from the paragraph above, the watch industry still has a long way to go before it can call itself diverse (a round of applause, please, for this groundbreaking revelation). And whenever such conversations are being held, a name that keeps being thrown in is Ming Thein — a Malaysian watchmaker and one of the biggest innovators among the independent players. 

Unlike many watchmakers, Thein wasn’t born into the trade. A physicist by training, Thein held many corporate positions before becoming a commercial photographer. By chance, it was photography that ignited his interest in horology. “There was an element of joy of discovery,” he says, “I was taking pictures of many watches. This was before social media and specialist publications. There were only two watch forums online.” These passionate discussions in early Internet niche chatrooms eventually made Thein think about designing a watch of his own. “As a physicist with an understanding of mechanical objects, I thought it’d be doable,” he says. 
 

The first watch MING the brand made in 2017 resulted from an arduous trial-and-error process. And even though it’s been nearly a decade since the release, the visual language remains striking and consistent – from the minimalistic dial to luminescent elements. You could imagine Tron’s protagonists sporting one of these pieces as they traverse the cyber realm on their bikes. “I design like [I build] a photographic composition, but in three dimensions, viewed from different angles with different materials,” the watchmaker explains, “I want different people to take different things away from [each watch].” 

Despite figuring out its visual identity rather early, it took MING winning the Horological Revelation prize at Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG, sometimes referred to as the Oscars of watchmaking) in 2019 for its 17.06 Copper to “be taken seriously” in Geneva. “We’re Asian, and up until that point we hardly had a track record or network,” he says, “having a huge chunk of naivety and denying that all of those things don't exist made our lives a lot easier,” Thein confesses that, at the very beginning, he and his team didn’t even know how to price their watches properly. Years later, with several GPHG awards, an impressive portfolio of innovative watches and armed with trusted partners, MING emerged not only as an example of outsiders succeeding in watchmaking but also as a leading voice in the industry. 

Yet still, despite being decorated with awards and praise, institutional regulations impose certain challenges. “The industry spent a lot of time and effort brainwashing people into thinking that [their watch] must be Swiss-made,” Thein proclaims, “But the reality is, most of these brands are not making this stuff in Switzerland.” He then adds, “You know, we don't qualify [to be called] ‘Swiss-made’” The watchmaker explains that this is, in fact, due to the ‘Swiss-made’ label being protected by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) against misuse. To be worthy of the label, all the engineering that goes into the watch must be done in Switzerland. “The irony is,” Thein says, “even though we do have a facility in Switzerland, I do all the engineering myself in Kuala Lumpur. But, if I was doing the same thing but at a desk at La Chaux-de-Fonds, I could label my watches as ‘Swiss-made’.”

Thein continues to push for more ingenious takes on horology. Earlier this year, MING debuted at Geneva Watch Days with the 20.01 Series 3, which featured an extraordinary borosilicate dial. “This is our first watch with a laser mosaic in it,” he says, “to bring it to life, we collaborated with [Swiss high-precision 3D glass micro-fabrication facility] FEMTOprint.” You couldn’t think of another watchmaker partnering with a medical device company. The voids that constitute the mosaic pattern are arranged in a radially symmetric pattern. Thein explains, “They are not just cutouts, but have a twisted internal structure with vertical sides, which gives them the impression of floating in space.” The insides of 20.01 Series 3 are as impressive – the movement features a curious antishock coupling system, in which the gears have their teeth split into two (thanks to photolithography). 

Most recently, MING took another GPHG award home. This time it was in the Sports Watch category. The winner 37.09 Bluefin won the judges’ hearts with its impressive 600m water resistance. Through innovatively tweaking the curvature of both front and rear crystals, prototypes of the Bluefin reached an astonishing crush depth of 900m after 24 hours of saturation. The intricate Bluefin dial underwent a painstaking 2-year development process. Its base sapphire is machined and laser engraved, while the reverse side boasts a proprietary double layer of chromium-based metallization before being filled with multiple layers of Super-LumiNova X1. And, in a bold move, MING decided to replace the traditional rotating bezel with a Super-LumiNova X1-filled sapphire dial that can be rotated by a sealed crown at the 4 o'clock position through a 60-click unidirectional mechanism, secured by sprung bearings.

Watches might be the most challenging pillar of the luxury segment to disrupt, especially given its hyperconcentration in Geneva. However, thanks to bright and bold players like Ming Thein, the conservative landscape might make way for a new, fresh, and diverse playground of innovators.