The historic Frankfurt am Main factory established in 1961 that has served as the spiritual birthplace for the last two decades of Sinn watches will close at the end of the summer as the brand relocates to a larger manufactory to accommodate recent growth. This is not before it produces one more very special limited edition: the new Sinn BLU1 dive watch, exclusive to Sinn’s retail brand partner Page & Cooper based in London.
As the swan song for the factory and a celebration of five years of successful collaboration together, Sinn is going the extra mile for Page & Cooper on the BLU1 – a neat twist on Sinn’s signature U1 diver, which is a longtime daily wear favorite of P&C founder and avid diver Jonathan Bordell. To do this, Sinn has introduced an entirely new manufacturing process to produce the BLU1’s uniquely graduated blue-to-black dial – a nod to the watch’s purpose-built utility between all three major light-penetrating zones of the ocean: from the bright blue sunlight (or ‘euphotic’) zone in the ocean’s uppermost 200 meters, to the darker twilight (‘disphotic’) zone that penetrates below 200 meters, all the way down to the inky blackness of the midnight (‘aphotic’) zone where light cannot reach, at depths up to 1,000 meters.
Like the standard U1, the BLU1 is indeed rated to every one of those 1,000 meters of water resistance – deep within the aphotic zone. But to guarantee its certification as diving-approved equipment and meet the requirements set by German maritime safety organization DNV GL (similar to Sinn’s TESTAF certification for pilot watches), the BLU1 is tested to 125 crushing atmospheres of pressure, or around 1,250 meters, even though it’s far beyond depths where light (or scuba divers) would ever be found.
It’s nice to see a retail limited-edition that brings a little more than the usual pedestrian changes – usually the addition of a line of text, some substitution of stock parts, etc., to the equation. Granted, on paper, the dial is still essentially a palette swap, but behind the scenes, a considerable amount of work went into creating the new processes to yield the dial. Each color in the gradient is applied individually, then lacquered to protect the finish, before being finally hand-inspected for clarity, contrast, and luminescence.
Like the U1 (and by extension, the rest of Sinn’s dive watch collection), the Sinn BLU1 is constructed with ‘u-boot stahl’ – a complex High-Yield steel with excellent seawater corrosion resistance, ultimately developed to increase the diving depth of submarines. In this case, it’s supplied by Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems, who also supplies it to the German Navy for use on the hulls of the 212-class, an ultra-modern attack sub. It’s worth bearing mention that Sinn also has a watch dedicated to this ultra-modern submarine, unsurprisingly called the U212.
North American dive watch fans, start booking your tickets now, only 50 total pieces of the BLU1 will be available (35 in stainless steel and 15 of the all-black, fully tegimented variant), to UK customers only, for a price of £1,850 and £2,250 (pricing includes VAT), respectively. sinn.de