The Ming 37.06 Royal Selangor is a limited-edition dress watch with a pewter dial made in collaboration with Royal Selangor, the Malaysian pewter house. On paper it is a simple manually wound watch with small seconds, but on the wrist it is a reminder that Ming's real talent is not complication count. It is proportion, texture, and the way a watch feels after the novelty has worn off.
I wore the 37.06 for a week of ordinary life: desk work, school runs, dinners, a train journey, and a lot of typing. This is not a watch that asks to be babied, though its dial is softer than steel or brass. It is a watch that rewards a certain calm. If you want a limited edition to flip, there are louder options. If you want a dress watch that feels personal, this one makes a strong case.
Why the 37.06 Royal Selangor matters
Ming has spent years building a reputation for dials that do more with less. The 37.06 Royal Selangor continues that thread. The collaboration with Royal Selangor is not a logo exercise. Pewter is a material with a long Malaysian craft history, and Royal Selangor is the name most collectors associate with it. Putting pewter on a dial gives the watch a surface that changes with the light without relying on a bright color or a busy pattern.
The result is a watch that looks expensive in a quiet way. The dial has a soft, granular quality, and the small seconds at six keeps the composition from feeling empty. There is no date, no GMT, no chronograph. That is the point. The 37.06 is a dress watch that trusts its wearer to appreciate restraint.
Brand context: Ming and Royal Selangor
Ming Watches was founded in 2017 by Ming Thein in Kuala Lumpur. The brand became known for accessible independent watchmaking with a strong design point of view, especially in its use of sapphire dials, skeletonized hands, and compact cases. The 37.06 is a natural extension of that identity: it is a limited edition, it is design-led, and it is made for people who care about how a watch wears rather than how it performs on a spec sheet.
Royal Selangor was founded in 1885 and is one of Malaysia's best-known pewter houses. Its involvement gives the watch a local craft story that is more specific than a generic limited edition. Pewter is not a conventional dial material. It is softer, it has a lower luster than steel, and it takes on a slightly warmer tone depending on the light. That is exactly why it works here. The dial feels tactile, almost like a piece of hand-finished metal rather than a printed surface.
Dial and case: pewter with purpose
The first thing you notice is the dial texture. The pewter surface is not glossy. It has a muted, granular finish that catches light in a diffuse way, so the watch reads as dark grey in some rooms and warmer silver-grey in others. The small seconds at six is the only real focal point. It gives the dial a classic dress-watch rhythm and keeps the hands from floating in empty space.
Legibility is good in normal light. The hands are clean and the markers are easy to locate, though this is not a watch built for a dark cinema. The lume treatment is there for low light, but it is best treated as a bonus rather than a reason to buy. The 37.06 is a dress watch first. The sapphire crystal is clear and does not add unnecessary distortion. The stainless steel case keeps the package familiar and easy to live with, and the leather strap suits the dress-watch brief better than a bracelet would.
Pewter is the one caveat. It is softer than the materials used on most tool watches, and it will not shrug off a hard knock the way a ceramic or steel dial would. In practice, that means you wear it with a little care. You do not throw it into a gym bag without a pouch. You do not wear it while moving furniture. You treat it like a dress watch, which is what it is. In return you get a dial that feels more alive than a printed one.
On the wrist: a week of real wear
The 37.06 is a watch that disappears on the wrist in the best way. The case is compact and balanced, the lugs curve down rather than jut out, and the leather strap keeps the package light enough for all-day wear. It sits neatly under a shirt cuff, and because the dial is more textured than shiny, it does not demand constant attention. The manual-wind movement also keeps the case from feeling top-heavy, which matters if you wear a watch on a smaller wrist or prefer a close fit.
Comfort is where this watch earns its keep. The strap is supple enough from the start, and the pin buckle is easy to adjust for a slightly looser fit in warm weather. The case does not dig into the back of the hand, and the crown is small enough that it does not press into the wrist during typing. I wore it for a full day of desk work and forgot it was there, which is a high compliment for a dress watch. The one thing to note is that the watch is not a sports watch. It is not the piece you wear for a swim or a hike, and the pewter dial deserves a little respect.
On a smaller wrist, the 37.06 feels intentional rather than timid. On a larger wrist, it reads as a classic dress watch rather than a statement piece. That is the nature of this design. It is not trying to fill the wrist. It is trying to sit correctly. The short, curved lugs help here, and the leather strap follows the case naturally. If you like a watch to feel like part of your clothing rather than a gadget strapped to your arm, this is the right kind of fit.
Movement and accuracy
The 37.06 Royal Selangor uses a Sellita SW216-1 manually wound movement with small seconds. It is a proven caliber with a 42-hour power reserve and a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour. The movement is not in-house, and it is not COSC-certified. That is not a problem in this context. Sellita movements are well understood, easy to service, and reliable in daily use. Ming finishes and displays the movement through a sapphire caseback, which gives the watch a nice mechanical detail without turning it into a skeleton showpiece.
In real wear, expect roughly -10 to +15 seconds per day. A good example should be stable, and a watchmaker can adjust it if you want tighter performance. The manual-wind ritual is part of the appeal. Winding it each morning takes a few seconds, and it creates a small moment of connection that an automatic does not always provide. The 42-hour reserve means you can take it off for a day and still find it running, but this is not a watch you leave in a drawer for a week. If you wear it regularly, winding becomes automatic in your routine.
Accuracy is not the reason to buy this watch, but it is not a weakness either. The SW216-1 is a known quantity, and Ming has enough experience with these movements to deliver a good daily experience. If you are the kind of buyer who needs chronometer certification, this is not the watch for you. If you want a reliable mechanical dress watch with a small seconds display, it does the job.
Legibility, occasions, and ownership
The 37.06 is at its best with tailoring, knitwear, and smart casual. It works with a suit because it is quiet and thin enough to sit under a cuff. It works with a dark jacket and jeans because the pewter dial has enough texture to feel interesting without being flashy. It is not a beach watch, and it is not the piece I would choose for a weekend of manual labor. But for the kind of daily wear that most collectors actually do, it is versatile.
The lack of a date is a deliberate choice. Some owners will miss the practicality, especially if they switch watches often. Others will appreciate the clean dial. The small seconds is the only complication, and it gives the watch a classic, almost vintage rhythm. Legibility is strong in daylight, and the hands are easy to read at a glance. The lume is not a headline feature, but it is there for low light. This is a watch you read with your eyes, not with a spec sheet.
Ownership is straightforward. The stainless steel case is easy to live with, the sapphire crystal is scratch-resistant, and the leather strap is replaceable. The pewter dial is the one part that needs care. Keep it away from abrasive surfaces and hard knocks. If you do that, it will age gracefully. The watch is limited, but it is not so precious that you need to keep it in a safe. It is designed to be worn, and it looks better when it is.
Value and service
The 37.06 Royal Selangor launched around the low-to-mid $3,000s, and secondary examples tend to trade near retail with a modest premium when they appear. That is a healthy place for a limited-edition independent watch. It is not an investment-grade asset with deep auction liquidity, and you should not buy it expecting Rolex-style resale. You buy it because you want a well-designed, limited manual-wind dress watch with a genuine craft story.
Service is not a concern in the way it can be with obscure movements. The Sellita SW216-1 is widely supported, and a competent independent watchmaker can service it. For anything involving the case, dial, or sapphire, Ming or an authorized partner is the safer route. The pewter dial is not a part you want a local jeweler to experiment with. Budget for routine maintenance like any mechanical watch, and confirm current service costs with Ming before you buy if that matters to you.
In terms of value, the 37.06 is strongest at retail or close to it. If the secondary price climbs too far above original retail, the watch starts to compete with more established dress watches from brands with deeper service networks. At its original price, it is a compelling package: limited production, a real material story, a proven manual movement, and a case that is genuinely comfortable. That is a better value proposition than a lot of so-called entry-level luxury watches.
Alternatives and homages
If you like the idea of a clean, manually wound dress watch but want a more established name, the Nomos Tangente 38 is the obvious alternative. It has a similar understated design language, a respected in-house movement, and a strong service network. The Grand Seiko SBGW231 is another option if you want a more formal, high-finishing manual-wind watch. The Cartier Santos-Dumont is for collectors who want a design-led dress watch with a different case shape. The Kurono Tokyo Mori is for buyers who want an independent limited edition with a distinctive dial and a cult following.
There is no direct homage to the Ming 37.06 that I would recommend as a substitute. The design is specific enough that a cheap copy would miss the point. If you want the same restrained daily-wear brief at a lower price, the Seiko 5 SNXS79 is an affordable grey-dial watch with a similar no-fuss attitude. The Orient Bambino is a classic dress-watch alternative for buyers who want a traditional look without limited-edition pricing. Neither is a Ming, but both get at the same idea: a simple watch that looks good with real clothes.
Final verdict
The Ming 37.06 Royal Selangor is one of the brand's most tactile and wearable collaborations. The pewter dial gives it a personality that a standard printed dial cannot match, and the small-seconds manual movement gives it a proper old-school rhythm. It is not a do-everything sports watch, and it is not an investment piece for people who need liquidity. It is a limited dress watch with genuine daily comfort, and that is enough.
If you want a watch that feels special without shouting, and you are willing to treat a softer dial with a little care, the 37.06 is easy to recommend. It is the kind of watch that gets better the longer you wear it, which is exactly what a daily-wear reviewer wants. Buy it to wear, not to flip.
