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conjurer
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The Perfect Watch?
So, I've had this on the wrist for the last week:
The Sinn 904. I purchased this from Watchbuys, the Sinn USA AD. They shipped it to me so fast that I never even had to wind it, since they had done it for me and set the time. On the first day, I realized that it had gained five seconds (or the guys at Watchbuys set it on a reference five seconds too fast) so I hacked the sumbitch.
I've already written about the origin story (as they say in Hollywood) of the 904, that Sinn bought the rights for the Breitling Navitimer from Willy B back in the day, blah blah blah. So I won't bore you with all that shit.
A few thoughts after wearing it for a week:
Super comfy. It's 41mm wide and about 14.5 mm tall on the wrist. It's heavy and a little thick, but not terribly so. The cowhide strap was a little stiff out of the box, but it's broken in.
Reading the chrono subdials is very easy. The black hands against the silver (or white) panda spots is quite good. The hands, surprisingly, sometimes blend in to the subs a little too much. The crown-controlled internal slide rule bezel is remarkably slow to set, so the original rotating bezel of the Breitling might win here. Also, the printing of the slide rule is very small, although I really doubt I'd ever use it.
Lume is OK, but limited to only the hour and minutes hands and the 1-2-3-4-7-8-10-11 markers. It is short lived and doesn't last through the night. Because of goddamn daylight savings, I haven't been able to check it at a glance in a dark car test. Also, in low light, forget about reading the chrono totalizers, let alone the slide rule shit.
The movement is a La Joux-Perret 8000 chronograph, I think based on the Valjoux 7753. However, it has a column wheel instead of the cam for start-stop-reset. The column wheel is blued, along with the larger screws. Starting the chrono is soft, with zero jump of the seconds hand. Stopping is the same, while reset takes a little more force. Unlike the Valjoux, the date is quick set from the crown. The movement is nicely decorated, with a Sinn signed rotor.
The finishing is very good, with alternate brushed and polished surfaces--a lot more polishing that I have on my other two Sinns, which are all matt. The glass front and back is very good.
The only nit I have to pick is a tiny speck that seems to be on the inside of the front crystal. It almost looks like a tiny bit of lume that might have either flaked off or whatever. It's hardly noticeable, and after some talking back and forth with Watchbuys regarding it, I've decided to keep the watch instead of sending it back for either service or replacement.
Oh, and the accuracy? After resetting it on the first day, the watch has run dead on for the last six days. I'd owned Casio Gee quartz that were not as accurate as this watch. Indeed, the only other watch I own that rivals it is my Tudor Black Bay GMT. The regulation of this watch rivals Omega and Rolex, which are COSC, and the Sinn isn't since COSC doesn't certify non-Swiss watches.
It's fucking awesome.
The Sinn 904. I purchased this from Watchbuys, the Sinn USA AD. They shipped it to me so fast that I never even had to wind it, since they had done it for me and set the time. On the first day, I realized that it had gained five seconds (or the guys at Watchbuys set it on a reference five seconds too fast) so I hacked the sumbitch.
I've already written about the origin story (as they say in Hollywood) of the 904, that Sinn bought the rights for the Breitling Navitimer from Willy B back in the day, blah blah blah. So I won't bore you with all that shit.
A few thoughts after wearing it for a week:
Super comfy. It's 41mm wide and about 14.5 mm tall on the wrist. It's heavy and a little thick, but not terribly so. The cowhide strap was a little stiff out of the box, but it's broken in.
Reading the chrono subdials is very easy. The black hands against the silver (or white) panda spots is quite good. The hands, surprisingly, sometimes blend in to the subs a little too much. The crown-controlled internal slide rule bezel is remarkably slow to set, so the original rotating bezel of the Breitling might win here. Also, the printing of the slide rule is very small, although I really doubt I'd ever use it.
Lume is OK, but limited to only the hour and minutes hands and the 1-2-3-4-7-8-10-11 markers. It is short lived and doesn't last through the night. Because of goddamn daylight savings, I haven't been able to check it at a glance in a dark car test. Also, in low light, forget about reading the chrono totalizers, let alone the slide rule shit.
The movement is a La Joux-Perret 8000 chronograph, I think based on the Valjoux 7753. However, it has a column wheel instead of the cam for start-stop-reset. The column wheel is blued, along with the larger screws. Starting the chrono is soft, with zero jump of the seconds hand. Stopping is the same, while reset takes a little more force. Unlike the Valjoux, the date is quick set from the crown. The movement is nicely decorated, with a Sinn signed rotor.
The finishing is very good, with alternate brushed and polished surfaces--a lot more polishing that I have on my other two Sinns, which are all matt. The glass front and back is very good.
The only nit I have to pick is a tiny speck that seems to be on the inside of the front crystal. It almost looks like a tiny bit of lume that might have either flaked off or whatever. It's hardly noticeable, and after some talking back and forth with Watchbuys regarding it, I've decided to keep the watch instead of sending it back for either service or replacement.
Oh, and the accuracy? After resetting it on the first day, the watch has run dead on for the last six days. I'd owned Casio Gee quartz that were not as accurate as this watch. Indeed, the only other watch I own that rivals it is my Tudor Black Bay GMT. The regulation of this watch rivals Omega and Rolex, which are COSC, and the Sinn isn't since COSC doesn't certify non-Swiss watches.
It's fucking awesome.
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