I sense extreme engineering
Once upon a time, a nice man at my office showed me his German watch. It was black, fairly spartan and was called a Sinn. He told he me he had always wanted one and I just thought it was a weird name…Sinn, did they think that one through? Why had he always wanted one?
Turns out, Sinn is a brand well known for many innovations and of course the typically German approach to (over)engineering. The company was founded by a pilot with the a perfectly German name of Helmut Sinn. They focused, not surprisingly, on cockpit instruments and pilot chronographs. But that name, odd. Reading a little more about it, Sinn is a word we have in Swedish also sinne and then it started to dawn on me. |
What we have here is perfect engineering with soul. Sinn can be found in many words related to the mind and I loosely translate it to spirit or even soul. Ok, now the name makes sense. It’s got nothing to do with doing the wrong thing by whatever you believe in so that’s a relief for us sinners. My friend was clearly attracted to the idea of a perfectly engineered watch with soul, this I can relate to.
After loads of research, I came across the Sinn 104. This is often described as the perfect watch, the one watch collection. Owning it now for some time, I can see why. It has the heritage of the instrument legibility, some lovely vintage touches and a very nice fit. So how has this watch treated me? |
My impressions owning & wearing the watch.
I bought this second hand off ebay, never tried it on. This is another example of a brand that is poorly represented in Australia in terms of quantity of resellers, but well represented in terms of quality of resellers. The experience starts with good quality packaging.
A thick black, textured cardboard box and inside, a faux leather sturdy box containing the watch. In addition to that, a booklet for the exact model I’m purchasing, again of a very high quality and a warranty card designed to last. This is all very promising for the actual watch and I loved the attention to detail from the start. You really can't beat embossed packaging,a beautiful colour brochure and proper plastic warranty card for a great first impression. |
The watch itself, it’s impossible not to appreciate the timeless design with its lovely angular lugs and perfect case. I opted for the model with no Arabic numbers since I love its clean and legible design. Holding it in my hand, it’s sturdy and solid but not heavy. One thing that sticks out immediately is the bezel. You’ll also notice some discrete screws that allows you control over how freely the bezel rotates. It’s a ‘count down’ bezel, meaning the order of numbers are reversed from a dive watch. So you can easily time your eggs or how many times your child utters the word ‘Mum’ in 10 mins, should you want to subject yourself to such suffering.
What’s also interesting is the fact that unlike every other bezel attached to any dive watch ever, you can turn it left and right. Ie. bidirectional. It feels extremely satisfying with very sturdy ball bearings and 60 click increments. This one you’ll play with endlessly whilst stuck in a traffic jam, in front of a campfire or cornered at a boring meeting. Just ensure you don’t accidently play with it if you are in fact timing your eggs. |
When it comes to the dial, again, there is one feature in particular that is immediately noticeable and that’s the ‘syringe’ hands. The hands are such a lovely touch with their wider base that do not in any way obstruct the bars at the hour increments, or numbers should you elect for that model. The needle end precisely points to the fine minute markers but they also look extremely classy to me. I’m not sure if this hand design draws inspiration from some other classic watch from the ages, but it feels like they do.
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The day/date complication fits with the design. I don’t love this sort of thing normally (I mean really, if you don’t know what day it is…should you even be leaving your house without your nurse) but at least this movement offers the instant flip at the 12 o’clock mark which does indeed ooze quality.
I feel that with the bars only (not numerals) the day/date complication is also not too distracting from the rest of the dial. I do appreciate the white on black. Worth noting too, if you are feeling extra exotic, you can elect to have your days in German. Other than this, the dial has the logo, the word Automatik in a lovely script font and the Made in Germany at the 6 o’clock position. In my view, this is classy and well designed dial with no unnecessary model numbers or other useless info to distract from the essentials. |
The crown is signed with the Sinn S and we have some fairly standard, discrete crown guards, all very nice and classy once again. I will say this though, I find the crown too small and annoying to use when winding the movement after not wearing it for a while.
This is not a free spinning Seiko movement, it takes some manipulation to wind so being so small in combination with my large hands and fingers, it’s fiddly. |
So on this note, this is obviously an automatic watch. Sinn do not make their own movements, these are sourced from Switzerland. There are models with ETA movements and Sellita and it’s not easy to work out what’s in yours but it should be safe to assume that it’s a Sellita SW220-1.
They are basically very similar to the ETA they’re based on but I have heard people say that the Sellita is a bit harder and grittier to wind, despite being a carbon copy of the ETA. People like to argue about which movement is best which a friend of mine described like arguing over washing machines. They are there to do a job and they are all very similar with off the shelf parts and features. It may be an off the shelf movement but Sinn definitely regulates it well, my watch keeps excellent time. Turning the watch over, we have a sapphire display case and what is apparently a signature golden rotor with the Sinn logo. I don’t know what I think about that. To me, the gold does not fit with the rest of the watch at all and signature Sinn move or not, it’s jarring. But, the rest of the case has some good sturdy German words such as Edelstahl & Antimagnetisch. Now that’s something I can get behind, particularly if they were to come out of the mouth of a certain Katarina Witt (showing my age here). |
There are tons of strap options, and this is a watch that will look good with almost anything. I have the original tough as nails leather strap which feels practically indestructible. I’m sure it’s good enough for tying down spare shells on the shelves next to a tank cannon but I won’t try that.
A signed buckle and embossed logos on the back all adds to the feeling of quality. I have not tried the H link bracelet, but these are renowned to be excellent quality once again. This does look awesome on leather though, and I also really like it on my green Erika MN strap. The ability to customise the Erika strap is again an excellent selling feature and the comfort levels are high. Since the watch is also quite thin, the added thickness of an Erika strap is ok. |
Movement
Strap & Bracelet
Case
miscellaneous
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Finally the lume. It is truly brilliant. Clearly generously applied it lasts easily through the night. The photo here is of a fully charged lume so it’s very bright of course. I could still easily make out the time when waking up at night.
It lasts very well, in fact it gives my Seikos a run for their money. I think this is impressive since the areas that have lume applied to them are thin but they appear very bright during the night. |
Final Words
What is it that makes watch collectors weak at the knees when it comes to Sinn watches? Yes, there are the innovative features, the sturdy build, and the absolute commitment to perfect legibility. These things all add up to satisfy the parts of our brain that searches for reasons not to commit.
Then you have the evocative name, the fact that all that engineering produces objectively attractive watches and perhaps even the watches coming out of somewhere other than Switzerland. |
The 104 is a gorgeous watch. I can’t imagine anybody picking this up and not appreciating all the many beautiful features. The syringe hands, the cursive logo and text, even little things such as the satisfying bezel movement and the lovely way that the bezel reflects light when your wrist is on an angle (sounds silly, but trust me).
It would fit any situation whether you’re going for a swim, a business meeting or taking he dog for a walk. It’s unique in the Sinn stable by not shouting about submarine steel or argon gas, it’s simply a perfectly engineered, attractive watch from Germany. My friend was right. Everyone should aspire to own a Sinn watch. Cheers, Esbjorn |
Did you enjoy this review? Coffee fuels my night time ponderings.