Sinn (watchmaker)
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Sinn is a watchmaker in Frankfurt am Main, Germany that was established by pilot and flight instructor Helmut Sinn in 1961.
[edit] History
After its establishment, the company constructed instrumental watches and watches for pilots based on Mr. Sinn's extensive aviation experience, that was primarily based on dissatisfaction with the flight watches that were available for pilot and navigational purposes at that time. Sinn's own designs incorporated the features and functionality that he felt more fit for the purpose as an instrument watch. This design philosophy has transcended the company's culture right through to the present day.
Solely selling the watches with direct marketing, thereby avoiding additional costs of intermediate trade, Sinn was able to sell its watches with a very good price/performance ratio. The watches were manufactured as OEM products in Switzerland according to Sinn's specifications and very popular among pilots because of their outstanding quality and design.
In 1994, Helmut Sinn sold the company to Dipl.-Ing. Lothar Schmidt, who constructed watches in the Porsche-Design Team in the 1970s and later on was authorized officer of the IWC. Among other things, Schmidt designed watch cases made from titanium for the IWC and after 1990 he was responsible for the rebuilding of the IWC brand A. Lange & Söhne.
Schmidt changed the name of the company to Sinn - Spezialuhren zu Frankfurt - (special watches from Frankfurt) and created a new range of watch models.
Today, as many as 10,000 watches are sold per year and the direct marketing has been expanded by establishing depots where watches are sold outside of Frankfurt.
Some years after he sold his company, Helmut Sinn returned to the watch business, building and selling watches of the brands Guinand, Jubilar und Chronosport in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. From 1993 to 2002, Sinn also produced watches for Bell & Ross.
[edit] Technology
From the beginning, Sinn's emphasis was on creating special purpose instrumental watches that performed under extremely adverse operating conditions such as high speed, high and low pressures and altitudes, intense heat or pressure, extreme cold, high magnetic interference, and submergence in liquids. Therefore, the brand is dedicated to engineering that tries to find technical solutions for special application areas of watches as well as solving typical problems of (mechanical) watches.
Special techniques, Sinn has developed for its watches:
- Scratch resistant stainless steel for the watch cases and bracelets with so called tegiment technology: with a special hardening process, the upper layer of the steel becomes as hard as ceramics (today as much as 1,500 Vickers).
- Escapement without using lubricant: the right combination of materials reduces the friction as if the parts of the escapement would be lubricated, therefore, extending the maintenance intervals of the watch.
- Technology to avoid the penetration of humidity into the watch case: the watch case is filled with Argon to avoid humidity that diffuses through the material of the watch case. Additionally, the watch case is equipped with a glass capsule filled with copper sulfate that takes up humidity that is entering the case anyway - initially colored white, the copper sulfate changes to blue when used up. This technology also prevents the glass of the watch from getting steamed up if the surrounding temperature is rapidly changing, for example when the watch is entered into cold water.
- Almost perfectly waterproof and extremely resistant to water pressure watch cases: the case is filled with silicone oil that almost cannot be compressed. Therefore, the watch is very waterproof and may be used in depths of several thousand meters. The case of the model Sinn UX / EZM 2b is certified for 12,000 meters, however, the quartz controlled movement can only withstand 5,000 meters. This technology only works with quartz movements as a mechanical movement does not work properly in the silicone oil. Another advantage of this technology is that the time can be read very easily under water.
- Usage of u-boat steel for the cases: the material is very good for hardening and very seawater resistant as it the same material that is actually used to build German submarines.
- Usage of special oil: by using a specially developed oil, the watches have a reasonable usage range from –45°C up to +80°C.
