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I noticed on the Watch thread very few people had a German watch. I remember seeing one Sinn in somebody's collection.
So let's get with it people! I doubt we'll have many contributors because not that many people in the US buy German, but show 'em if you got 'em.
I'm wearing this Tutima 760-42 Commando II today.
The story: I've loved chronographs but was annoyed by how unreadable most are for actual timing, since they put the minutes register in a tiny subdial that only reads 30 minutes and every time I want to time something it seems to be covered up by the hour hand.
So I discovered the Lemania 5100 movement 15 or so years ago. Perfect solution! The minutes and seconds are both read off of the full watch face, rather than a subdial. Perfect! So I bought a couple of different chronographs with the 5100, including an Oris and a Sinn (which was actually marketed and sold by Bell & Ross in the U.S. because Sinn didn't have distribution here at the time.) That watch worked great but because of all the complications and markings, it was hard to read at a glance, say while jogging. It had subdials for 24hour time, 12-hour counter, 60 second continuous seconds hand, and markings for tachymeter, day, date, 5th-of-a-second markings around the seconds chapter, etc. Very hard to read at a glance.
Then I happened upon a description of the Tutima I now own. It fixed all the problems with the other ones; got rid of all the subdials except the 12-hour counter, got rid of all the extraneous markings around the dial, got rid of the Day window, got rid of all the Superlative-Chronograph-type braggery on the dial, replaced the heavy steel construction with titanium.
So I chased them for about 60 days -- the watch was discontinued by this time as the 5100 is out of production -- till I found one in Japan, new-in-box. I've had it about 7 years, still love it to death.
one of my several German watches : the Porsche 991 GT3RS equivalent techie SINN ( " zeen " ) EZM 10 Testaf pilot's mission timer chronograph with the brand's stereotyped " because they are German and cant help it " over-engineered traits incl lightweight scratch proof Tegimented titanium case, oil-free Diapal escapement in a Sinn take on the legendary Lemania 5100 chrono movement , dehumidifying Argon gas -filled case with replacable copper sulfate moisture -absorbing capsule since encased " dry " air still has water vapor in it that can cause corrosion in the movement, chemical and chlorine resistant EDR case seals vs typical rubber , -40C to + 80C operating range secondary lubricants, crystal secured from popping off in case of sudden cockpit decompression , locked-down vs pressed on rotating bezel , flourescent paint orange chrono hands for cockpit UV lighting and my two favorite features 1) COUNTDOWN bezel ( to mark minutes until start of bombing run, parking meter expiration or steak doneness on grill ,lol ) and 2) easy to read at a glance CENTRAL chronograph elapsed seconds AND MINUTES hand ( no squinting at 1/4 " diam subdial for reading latter in first or second 30 minute chunks depending on elapsed hours hand's position )
easy to see here in a quick glance that all-orange-handed chrono elapsed time is 1 hr , 7 min and 38 seconds and all-white-handed time is 9:11 am ( per 24 hr subdial in case wearer is inside a windowless nuclear weapons command bunker for days at a time ! ) and 27 seconds :
pilot's view showing just the critical chronograph mission elapsed-time hand set under cockpit UV light :
I've got a Sinn U1 with rubber strap that I absolutely love... pic from the internet to give you an idea. Only issue is the clasp is messed up and doesn't hold close. Need to get it in for service but no time these days.
I've got a Sinn U1 with rubber strap that I absolutely love... pic from the internet to give you an idea. Only issue is the clasp is messed up and doesn't hold close. Need to get it in for service but no time these days.
I also have a U1 as my "daily driver". Wearing it with the stainless bracelet now but usually swap out the rubber strap for the summer. It's tough. I've taken it under the ocean and to the tops of mountains. It has a scratch on the clasp from a fall on my way down from Mt. St. Helens.
The only Porsche Design stuff I'd buy is the Rimowa luggage, but we already have all we need and it's warranty is like 20 years so I don't have any excuses to buy it
Back in the early days PD put their design into some decent watches. The Orfino with the PFD (black) case and the Lemania 5100 movement is considered desireable. But these days they're mostly Swiss quartz watches -- nice watches in the grand scheme of "All Watches" but of no interest to "Watch People."
11-17-2016, 11:37 AM
How about German Watch Thursday?
