Everything About The MING 56.00 Starfield Is Very, Very Special; Special Nomos Ludwigs For Japan; Maen's Fifth Gen Hudson Diver; Chopard Teams Up With Zagato; Niton Is Back With The Prima Jump Hour

Hey friends, welcome back to It’s About Time. Rare are the days when I wouldn’t mind owning every single watch I’m writing about. But even better than those are the watches I have in the “Find Your Next Watch” segment. I can’t remember when we had such a great lineup of those.

In this issue

• Everything About The MING 56.00 Starfield, Their First Integrated-Bracelet Watch Is Very, Very Special

• Nomos Releases Two Subtly Different Ludwig Models With Their Japanese Distributor J. Osawa

• Maen Releases The Fifth Generation Of Their Hudson, A Diver With A Cult Following

• Chopard Teams Up With Iconic Coachbuilder Zagato For The Experimental Hyperlite Lab One Concept

• Legendary Movement Supplier Niton Is Revived With A Very On-Trend Prima Jump Hour

• FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Historical Perspectives: Jo Siffert, Jack Heuer, and the First Modern F1 Brand Ambassador Deal

👂What’s new

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Everything About The MING 56.00 Starfield, Their First Integrated-Bracelet Watch Is Very, Very Special

Following Ming’s trajectory over the years has been the most pleasant rollercoaster in the watch industry. Starting off with a bit of a shaky road, Ming has developed into one of the darlings of the independent space. Their success was skyrocketed with the 37.09 Bluefin which won them the GPHG, putting them smack-dab into the limelight. But there’s a very specific reason why we love Ming. It’s because they approach watchmaking with the most intense attention to details imaginable. They develop their own lume, they do wonders with experimental materials and they blew everyone away with what has to be the best 3D printed titanium bracelet we’ve ever seen. So, when they decided to do an integrated bracelet watch, the most on-trend type of watch, you knew it would be the best that they can make it and much different than anything else people are doing. This is the new Ming 56.00 Starfield.

This new case is based on the fifth-generation design language from Ming but it’s not an existing case. It’s purpose built to integrate with the bracelet. It’s made out of 316L stainless steel and the entire thing has an almost unbelievable mirror polish. It measures 40mm wide and 9.7mm thick, and has HyCeram luminous insert in the flanks and tops of the case, which is just cool. There are sapphire crystals front and back and water resistance is 100 meters.

The dial is equally impressive, but most Ming dials are. The actual dial is a sapphire disc with a laser etched Mosaic structure that allows the dial to play with the light, reflecting colors ranging from pink to green. It’s an incredible look. The sapphire crystal above it has the unusual arching indexes engraved into its underside and filled with Ming Polar White lume. The hands are blued and filled with Super-LumiNova X1.

The movement inside is the Vaucher for Ming Cal. 3002.M1, an automatic movement based on a Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier movement that has twin-barrel architecture and smooth power delivery. The movement beats at 4Hz and has a 50 hour power reserve. But the main attraction of the movement, and the inspiration for the Starfield name, is the rotor. As the rotor spins, luminous stars streak and blur across the sapphire caseback, creating a warp speed look. Then, there’s the bracelet. It’s brand new, made out of polished stainless steel, with incredible curved links and a newly developed, patent-pending tool-less resizing system allows links to be removed without tools. The clasp also has a separate patent-pending micro-adjustment system.

The new MING 56.00 Starfield is part of the Special Project collection, which means that there won’t be a lot of them, but it’s also announcing a new collection family. This particular model is limited to just 20 pieces. Price is set at CHF 19,500, without taxes, which is quite the price. But I would say it’s worth it. The watch goes on sale tomorrow, 10 February 2026 at 1 PM GMT. See more on the Ming website.

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Nomos Releases Two Subtly Different Ludwig Models With Their Japanese Distributor J. Osawa

The very simple Ludwig from Nomos is turning out to be quite the capable collaboration platform. I guess it’s the stark simplicity of the watch, with thin lugs and simple Roman numerals that serves as a great blank canvas. We saw it last stand in with the Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, collaboration, and now Nomos is partnering with its Japanese Distributor J. Osawa to release the Limited-Edition Ludwig 33 duo for Japan and the regular Ludwig for Japan.

While the previous Doctors Without Borders collab came with the larger two Ludwig models, this one comes in the 33mm and the 35mm case. They both come in stainless steel cases, with sapphire crystals on top and bottom, polished finishes, thin angular lugs and they both have 50 meters of water resistance. The smaller one measures 32.8mm wide, 6.5mm thick, with a 42.2mm lug-to-lug, while the larger one measures 35mm wide, 6.3mm thick, with a 45mm lug-to-lug.

The dials are practically identical on the two models. You get a stark white dial with a blue minute scale on the periphery, along with blue painted hour markers — a combination of thin stick markers and Roman numerals. New for both are the leaf-shaped blued hands that look beautiful. And the only difference between the two is the fact that the larger one has a small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock.

Inside, you’ll find the DUW 4001 and DUW 4001 Duo movements, with the Duo being the same movement as the regular 4001, but with just the hour and minute hands. The movements beat at 3Hz, with a 53 hour power reserve. The smaller watch comes on a vegan velour remborde beige strap, while the larger one comes on a horween genuine shell cordovan brown strap.

The new Nomos limited edition Ludwig models for Japan is limited to 50 pieces for the smaller one, priced at €1,580, and 70 pieces for the larger one, priced at €1,960. They are both, obviously, limited to Japan, but I couldn’t pass on mentioning them. See more on the Nomos website here and here.

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Maen Releases The Fifth Generation Of Their Hudson, A Diver With A Cult Following

Over the past almost 10 years, Maen has been making watches that have a very unique look to them. Sure, there are only so many ways to design a watch, and it seems that there are two ways to approach this design. Either do something completely new and revolutionary, or iterate on the existing until you get something interesting. Both are valid positions and one could argue that it’s the latter that’s more successful with customers. And it’s that latter that Maen, a Swedish brand with a cult following, has applied to a lot of their watches. Take, for example, the Hudson diver that they first introduced seven years ago. In those seven years they iterated on the watch five times, making it better every time. Now, it’s time for the Maen Hudson Mk5.

The majority of the changes on this fifth version come in the form of a new case. It’s more slender in all dimensions, making it more wearable despite being a capable dive watch. It’s well made with brushed and polished finishes and with drilled lug holes. The stainless steel case now measures 38mm wide, 13mm thick and has a 47mm lug-to-lug. And before you smirk at the 13mm thickness, that’s with the 2mm-thick box-type sapphire crystal on top, and it’s thinner than the previous version and it has 300 meters of water resistance. That sapphire crystal is surrounded with a steel bezel with a polished ceramic insert with a fully graduated 60 minute scale. At 12 o’clock is a lume pip set in a red or white triangular marker, depending on the color of the dial.

More updates can be found on the dial. It’s now textured and offered in either blue or black. Both colors come with or without a date aperture, but those choices alter the black dial a bit. If you get the black version you get red details on the hands and bezel. I love this version. All of the dials feature polished rectangular hour markers filled with Super-LumiNova X1, and the same lume is found on the baton-style hands for the hours and minutes, as well as a lumed lollipop hand for the seconds.

Inside, more change, and it’s change that we’ve been seeing a lot lately. Gone is the Sellita SW200-1 that we’ve seen make its way through the micro space and it’s replaced with the new darling, the La Joux-Perret G100. It has the same 4Hz beat rate and the same ±12 seconds per day accuracy as the Sellita, but with a much better 68 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black FKM rubber strap, but you can opt for a five-row or jubilee-style bracelet, now with a toolless micro-adjustment system on the clasp.

The new Maen Hudson MK5 is available for pre-order now, with price starting at €899 on the rubber and €1,088 on the bracelet. The watches are expected to ship at the end of April. See more on the Maen website.

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Chopard Teams Up With Iconic Coachbuilder Zagato For The Experimental Hyperlite Lab One Concept

Zagato is one of those companies that drops jaws with whatever they do. Every single car they modify is just the most perfect creation that you could imagine. The one thing that didn’t exactly blow me away is their work in watches. They’ve worked with Chopard twice so far, both times on the Mille Miglia Chronograph — which makes sense with the car connection — and both times I was underwhelmed by their releases. Well, they’re fixing that on the third collaboration. This is the Chopard x Zagato Lab One Concept which does a lot of things. Way more than anyone would expect. And it’s incredibly cool.

The case is brand new for Chopard, inspired by a tubular chassis of a race car, and made out of ceramicised titanium. The material is electroplasma-treated, giving it a ceramic-like scratch resistance of 1000 Vickers. The case measures 42mm wide and 11.15mm thick, with lugs that you really haven’t seen before — they are self-locking tubular loops that hug your wrist with a 45 degree pivot. They are also very widely set on the case, making for what must be a very short length. By using titanium and a hollowed-out construction, the weight is kept to a minimum, just 43.2 grams. On top is a box-shaped sapphire crystal and water resistance is 50 meters.

It’s impossible to talk about the dial without speaking about the movement, as the ceramicised titanium mainplate of the movement serves as the base of the dial. Looking through the aperture, you see that the entire movement/dial is suspended within the case with tube-like suspensions, another callback to a tubular chassis of a car. The base of the dial is decorated with Zagato’s signature “Z”, machined in relief and finished with rhodium-plated chamfers. Taking inspiration from the car world, you have the openworked hands that look like cutouts of a steering wheel, while at 12 o’clock is a power reserve indicator that looks like a fuel gauge.

The movement whose base serves as the dial is the hand-wound L.U.C 04.04-L. Pretty much the entire movement is done in ceramicised titanium, except for the tourbillon carriage that’s made out of aluminum. The 60-second tourbillon sits at 6 o’clock. Shock protection is provided by silent-block elastomer dampers and the mentioned four lever arms securing the calibre within the case. It beats at 4Hz and has a 60 hour power reserve. The watch comes with two straps: a calfskin leather strap with a ceramicised titanium pin buckle or a very technical looking fabric strap with hook-and-loop fastening.

The new Chopard x Zagato Lab One Concept is limited to 19 pieces and priced at CHF 130,000. See more on the Chopard website.

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Legendary Movement Supplier Niton Is Revived With A Very On-Trend Prima Jump Hour

I think it’s always a good day when we get to see a legend of the industry return. Back in 1919, a couple of employees from Vacheron Constantin left the company to start making their own movements. The company grew to supply not just their old employer, but also Patek Philippe, Cartier and other powerhouses of the era. They were best known for their jump hour movements. The company eventually falters, but now it’s being brought back by entrepreneurs Yvan Ketterer and Leopoldo Celi. Appropriately, their first watch is a jump hour with a perfect mix of modern and vintage style influences. This is the new Niton Prima.

You have a choice of materials for the Prima, either platinum or rose gold. Regardless of the material, you get the same case, one that measures 27mm wide, 7.9mm thick, with a 27mm length. Interestingly, you get 30 meters of water resistance, which is just enough for a watch like this. The majority of the case has a polished finish, but on top is a vertically brushed plate that has an almost keyhole opening int he center made out of three parts to display all the relevant information. And that shows the jumping hours at the top, minutes on a rotating disc in the middle and small seconds on the bottom. The base of that inside display and rotating disc are matched to the material of the case, with blued indices and discreet hands. It all looks very elegant.

Inside, a bit of irony. While I am certainly not a purist when it comes to “in house movements” and believe it to be a piece of mass hypnosis by the Swatch Group, it’s a shame that Niton, a brand that was best known for making movements, doesn’t have an actual in-house movement. Sure, they are a young brand, and doing your own movement is expensive, but still… The calibre NHS01 is designed by Niton, but made by Le Temps Manufacture. But regardless of that, it’s a sensational looking square movement with a beautiful wide guilloché pattern on the German silver barrel and train bridges and black polished steel used for the escapement and balance bridges. It beats a 4Hz, has a mighty 72 hour power reserve and a Breguet overcoil on the variable inertia balance wheel.

A nifty detail is the fact that the seconds hand keeps ticking when you pull out the crown until it hits 0, when it stops for easy time setting, and restarts when you put the crown back in. One other cool thing is an audible alert when the hour jumps. The snail cam driving the jumping-hour mechanism actuates two superimposed levers: one for the jumping-hour and another that lifts a hammer which strikes directly on the case, producing a click. The watch has chronometer certificate and is within Geneva Seal specifications. They come on blue calf leather straps with a pin closure that matches the case.

The new Niton Prima is available for oder now, but only 19 pieces will be made in each material. Price is set at CHF 44,750 for the rose gold and CHF 47,750 for the platinum, both without taxes. See more on the Niton website.

FOR WATCH CLUB MEMBERS Your Next Watch, Week 66: An Unbelievable Rolex; Vintage Chronograph Galore; A Hublot Dilemma; And A Heuer You Want To See

We continue with our exploration of watches we shouldn't spend our money on, but most likely will. Read it here.

⏲️End links

A bunch of links that might or might not have something to do with watches. One thing’s for sure - they’re interesting

• We’ve all had them: emails warning that a subscription is about to end or a payment is overdue, often alarmingly specific. Phishing attempts are becoming increasingly sophisticated—but who comes up with them in the first place? Would you ever suspect a student DJ in Kent, England? Ollie Holman wasn’t sending phishing emails himself, but he was selling “phishing kits”—packages of software that allowed buyers to impersonate banks, government bodies, and other institutions. This talented coder was helping others defraud people of hundreds of thousands. Why?

• In this story for Pioneer Works Broadcast, evolutionary biologist Darshana Narayanan explores the history and stakes of reproductive biology in space, beginning with the Soviet Bion program, launched in the 1960s to study how living beings function in microgravity. Narayanan writes about the pioneering rodent research of American scientist Jeffrey Alberts—including the first experiments of pregnant mammals in orbit—which remains one of the only sources of empirical data on pregnancy in space. In a time of billionaire-driven visions of space colonization from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Narayanan asks crucial questions about our biological readiness for life beyond Earth: If we build the infrastructure to settle on Mars, can humans survive, adapt, and safely reproduce in ways that allow a multi-planetary future? How would our species evolve?

• Contrary to what you may have read in news headlines, the Great Barrier Reef is not dead—but unless greenhouse gas emissions aren’t cut dramatically, it could be within decades. Benji Jones, Vox’s environmental correspondent, spent time in Australia in December, scuba diving off the coast of Queensland to learn about a massive effort, the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, to fight the reef’s “fertility crisis” through assisted reproduction, or what people are calling coral IVF. As coral populations shrink due to rising ocean temperatures, eggs and sperm are less likely to meet naturally, so scientists collect spawn during mass breeding events and rear babies in protected pools before reseeding them onto damaged parts of the reef. Jones reports on a remarkable large-scale project, backed by nearly $300 million and more than 300 experts across over 20 institutions, but critics argue that it doesn’t address the root cause—rising global emissions—which is the one step that really matters.

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One video you have to watch today

I love this video for two reasons. First, Die Hard 3 is one of the first movies I remember seeing in the cinema with my dad and I fell for it hard. But the video is not just about DH3. It’s about New York City, an important city in my life, and how wild it was to see the city in movies before greenscreens, when they actually had to shut down some of the busiest places in the world to film.

Thanks for reading,
Vuk