Watch enthusiasts know the name Sinn as being more or less synonymous with tough German tool watches. Models like the U1 and the EZM series are recognizable to many, but less familiar is the man behind this celebrated brand.
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Helmut Sinn, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 102, was an influential figure in watchmaking during the latter half of the 20th century, and his eponymous brand has made some of the toughest, most forward-thinking tool watches in the industry. Sinn was a former pilot who sought to form his own watchmaking brand during the 1960s. He aimed to produce high-quality watches that he could sell at a competitive price by cutting out the middleman and selling direct to consumers through catalogs. This is a business tactic associated with modern brands like Casper and Everlane, but in Sinn’s early years, it was incredibly novel.
Sinn’s specialty was tough and legible pilot’s chronographs, originally sold to the German military and police. Since its early days, it produced one of the first automatic watches that went into space, it reinvented the chronograph even and it helped get another brand — Bell & Ross — off the ground. Today, the brand is a pioneer in technologies that further the durability and legibility of mechanical timekeeping. Of course, none of this would have been possible without Helmut Sinn. The following timepieces are five of the brand’s most important models, and they represent his legacy and brand vision.
Jonas RatermannHeuer 1550 Bundeswehr
Yes, one of Sinn’s most iconic contributions to watch history was a Heuer. Originally made for the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, the 1550 Bund featured a case made by Sinn. Sinn eventually took over the contract for servicing these watches in the 1980s, and so some can be found with newer Sinn-branded replacement dials. This arrangement eventually led to the Sinn 156, a continuation of the classic Bund chronograph, and later the 158.
