When it comes to watches, we all have our particular tastes – one person may love chronographs, and another may opt for a simple three-hander. What we can all appreciate though, are a handful of attributes that a single brand has built into their entire lineup:
- Impeccable German aesthetics
- Solid build quality
- Impressive mechanical movements
These are all, of course, represented in the Sinn catalog. Photo credits for images in this article go to Zach Weiss by the way, and we appreciate his great shots. Surprisingly, for a brand that’s “only” been around since the ’60s, they have quite a variety of models as well – meaning those three attributes above are going to show up in a style of watch you’d want to have on your wrist.
In the ’60s, Helmut Sinn was a pilot who wasn’t happy with the watches he was finding in the market, and decided to create his own. Additionally, he decided he wanted to sell direct to the consumer, cutting out the costs the “middle man” imposed. In may ways, it seems that Mr. Sinn was the forefather of our modern trend of online-only boutique brands that are creating watches today.
Over the last twenty years, Sinn has worked to incorporate a variety of technologies into their watches to differentiate themselves from the rest of the field. Things like tegimented steel, high levels of magnetism resistance, or special capsules to keep the watch dry, have all found their home in various models.
Of course, if you wanted, you could go the Sinn website and start cruising around the product pages, seeing what all is out there. If you’re not familiar with the brand however, getting a good feel for what they have on offer (or those you may find in the secondary market) is near impossible.
Our colleagues at Worn & Wound photographed some Sinn watches of friendly collector, and they’ve compiled a sort of “greatest hits” of both prior and current Sinn models, giving us a summary of what the German tool watch brand has to offer.
Of the watches they cover, the 657 is by far my favorite – a classic three-hand aviator with a 60-click bezel, powered by the workhorse ETA 2824-2. It just has perfectly clean styling, and the dial offers up a great feature I wish more brands had. The date display shows up between 4- and 5-o’clock, and they’ve rotated the numerals 45 degrees, so it reads level to the horizon. Necessary? Absolutely not, but it is great evidence of attention to detail.
My second favorite of the lot is the 856 UTC. Here again, it’s primarily the clean design that speaks to me. It’s the movement, though, that puts it over the top. With the inclusion of the ETA 2893-2 GMT/UTC, you have the addition of what I find to be one of the most useful complications (24-hour time). I also appreciate how Sinn left the 24-hour hand readable, yet let it blend into the dial with it being mostly black, and only a yellow outline on the tip. Just sublime detailing, if you ask me.
There are three other models (the 157 and 256, which are both chronographs, and the EZM 3, which is a tool diver) covered in the article that are nice pieces in their own right, and worth a look – just not quite up to the levels of the two I highlighted above. Regardless of your personal preferences, it’s a good article that will give you at least an introductory feel for what the Sinn brand is all about. sinn.de