Ming’s Tribute to Titanium: the 37.02 Ghost
The latest from Ming, the 37.02 Ghost, is something of a study in titanium, a favorite material here at Worn & Wound. Members of our team have been fans of titanium for years for its light weight and its frequent association with many of the tool watches we’ve come to love. Titanium was a rarely used material in watchmaking not that long ago, but it’s so prevalent now that it’s easy to forget that at one time it was considered quite exotic. The Ghost taps into some of that exoticism, and reminds us just how strange and, at least in some ways, how ill suited titanium can be to watchmaking – a fact that makes a watch like this all the more impressive. The 37.02 Ghost is made entirely from grade 2 titanium, a material often referred to as “pure” titanium. This material is distinct from grade 5 titanium, which is much more common in modern watchmaking, in a number of ways. Grade 5 titanium is made up of significant quantities of aluminum and was developed to be relatively easy to machine for applications in aerospace and other industries. Those qualities also, eventually, made it well suited to watchmaking, and it’s really a special bonus that grade 5 titanium can be finished with a polish and has an overall brighter appearance than other titanium allows. Grade 2 titanium is an entirely different animal. Ming notes that pure titanium is extremely difficult to cut, and there’s even a significant risk that grade 2 titanium shavings and dust can catch fire dur...
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