Diving Watches Editorial Limited Edition spotlight Mind, Body & Soul New Releases New Watches Sinn

When East met West – Marking Unification Day with the release of the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE

Limited Edition releases can be tricky; in the case of the new new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE, the brand has managed to use restraint while giving voice to subtle creativity.

When East met West – Marking Unification Day with the release of the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE

Editor’s note: This is a Mind, Body & Soul review review of the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE watch. In addition to our standard long form reviews, we sometimes preview watches in the form of short descriptions, technical specifications and a creative infographic. These short form reviews, or Mind (stats), Body (design features) & Soul (what’s special) reviews as we like to call them, are meant for those who are in a rush and wish to get their watch fix fast. For our standard reviews, please head to our review section here

new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE
© 2020 Define Imports Pty Ltd T/A Define Watches | https://www.definewatches.com.au/shop/sinn/u1-de-300-piece-ltd-ed/

What is it: The new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE 

Why: Specially released to mark the 30th anniversary of German reunification

When released: July, available online on MR PORTER now

Where: Through authorised dealers, limited edition of 300 pieces only

Who is it for: For those who love the brand and cherish what they do  and what the watch stands for

How does it do: Seeped in the brand’s iconic design architecture and also stemming from the history of Germany, it is a trustworthy diver with exceptional legibility, strong durability, and a wonderful nod to the tale of united Germany. The restrained use of colour real adds to the class and the limited nature of this release without overpowering the clean, cluster-free look we have gotten to love and expect from Sinn.

Missing: Even though it is out and out dive watch, a display case-back would have been nice; or I would have preferred if the caseback was more decorated with engravings to mark the historic event. Given Sinn was going for the colours of red, black and gold, white stands out too much; I know it’s part of their design language as the watch is a variant of their staple  signature U1 dive and is in-filled with the diver friendly lume, but still would have preferred if they went for aged-lume instead, like the Ivory-coloured coating on the indices, hands of the Sinn U1 SE ref. 1010.023. Given it’s a limited edition, a different movement rather than their standard of Sellita SW200-1 with more than 38-hours power reserve would have been more befitting. 

Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE

The Mind 

The reference 1010.0241 features the outsource Sellita calibre SW200-1 which is an automatic-winding movement. This anti-magnetic as per DIN 8309 movement features 26 jewels and beats at the frequency of 4Hz (28,000 vph) An iteration of the workhorse ETA2824-2, this movement itself measure in at 25.6mm diameter and 4.6mm thickness, and given the relative sleekness of this movement, I wonder why Sinn didn’t choose to have a slimmer case profile for this limited edition release?

Also, given this movement allows the date complication to be at any of the 3, 6, 9, or 12’o clock positions, I again feel that Sinn should gone for the different 6’o clock position to again make this limited edition even more special aesthetically. 

The Body 

The movement is encased inside a 44mm diameter and 14.7mm thick high-strength, seawater-resistant German Submarine Steel black case with a band lug width of 22mm and a screwable crown at 4’o clock.

This dark, stealth case frames the matt black watch face shows the functions of central hour, minutes and seconds, and a date window at 3’o clock.  

new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE
© 2020 Define Imports Pty Ltd T/A Define Watches | https://www.definewatches.com.au/shop/sinn/u1-de-300-piece-ltd-ed/

Providing exceptional legibility and contrast is the high-gloss, gold-plated seconds hand that works well against the white indices and hour and minute hands that are all coated with luminescent colour. 

Another standout feature of this case is the rotating unidirectional 60-minute diver’s bezel with minute ratcheting and luminous key mark; it makes use of the brand’s TEGIMENT Technology that not only hardens the bezel surface for heavy-duty wear but also makes it scratch-resistant.

A true dive watch from the word go, it also comes with a DNV GL certification and tests based on European diving equipment standards EN 250 / EN14143, solidifying the brand’s impressive claim of the watch being water-resistant to depths of 1000m (100 ATM).

new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE

The Soul

Sinn watches have a certain undeniable charm and appeal to them; function following form, the watches act and look the part they are intended for. Take the recent Sinn 158 Traditional Bicompax Pilot Chronograph for instance – a nod to the heritage of instrument chronographs, it is very much a legible, military watch. Utilitarian and sexy, it’s again function following form.

158 8481 Ret 2000 Pix Fb

The U-series watches used to be available in two sizes, 44 (U1, U2, and UX) and 47mm (U212). Then early this year the German brand introduced a much welcomed smaller U50 series — U50, U50.S, and the U50.SDR — that measure in a more wrist friendly 41mm diameter and 11.15mm thick case featuring the Sellita SW330-1 movement.

Going back to its roots for the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE, Sinn has created a timepiece that’s embedded with their DNA yet stands form on tis own accolades. Perhaps the defining feature of the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE is the use of Germany’s national colours, especially that high-gloss gold-plated seconds hand.

The use of the national colours makes sense as Germany will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of German reunification on 3rd October 2020. 

This date is known as the Unification Day, and it was then that the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist, five new Federal States on its former territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany, and East and West Berlin were reunited. 

And as if this wasn’t enough for Sinn to warrant a new limited edition release, the brand is also marking another significant event, though this one is more personal in nature for the German watchmaker. It is the continued partnership between two companies — Frankfurt based Sinn Spezialuhren GmbH and Sächsische Uhrentechnologie GmbH Glashütte (SUG) — that embraces the merging of East (Glashütte) and West (Frankfurt) since 1999. SUG is used as the manufacturer for Sinn’s highly reliable dive watch cases. 

To sum it up, the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE is yet another feather in Sinn’s cap; for the price of AUD $4,210.00 on rubber strap one gets a sturdy, reliable, highly legible, very scratch resistant, limited edition and distinctive dive watch with bold and blocky hands/indices are a defining feature of the standard U1, and one that also happens to mark a momentous day in German history. 

new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE

Limited Edition releases can be tricky; in the case of the new new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE, the brand has managed to use restraint while giving voice to subtle creativity. 

To find out more about the new Sinn Diving Watch U1 DE and other Sinn watches, please head to their website here. All images unless otherwise stated are courtesy © Sinn / Copyright Sinn Spezialuhren. To buy this and other Sinn watches, please head to the brand’s official watch dealer in Australia, Define Watches website here.

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