The story goes- I was looking for another Sinn EZM1 and I got impatient and bought the EZM 10. It goes against many things I initially look for; mainly size and age as I around 40mm and go for more vintage than new. I have been quite impressed with this piece and I thought I'd do a quick review of it. Mind you I've only had it since last week.
PACKAGING:
Standard Sinn packaging. Inner and outer box, Sinn tool (which works better than my other springbars tools), warrantee card from Watchbuys, manual and the TESTAF certificate which I'll explain later.
CASE:
Tegimented Titanium, first of its kind. Measurements- 46.5mm from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock, 44mm from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock, 15.6mm thick, weight is 95g and lug size is 22mm.
Sounds huge but it does not seem that way to me after wearing it. It may be due to the light weight case but the dial and bezel size are not as large as you may think. The reason for the larger measurement between 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock is because of the integrated pushers. They had to extend the case to house them. I think it works out quite well. Of course it has he little window on the other side for the Sinn dehumidification capsule.
BEZEL:
60 click countdown bezel. I actually prefer the countdown bezel to any other, especially on a chrono. The bezel is thick and meaty, has 4 securement screws and very grippy. The "clicks" are more like "thuds" and fits the watch well. Here is my first complaint; sapphire insert. I don't understand why they would do this. It does not go with the all over feel of the watch and I think Sinn made a mistake putting a shiny, blingy insert on this watch. Other than it being too shiny, the insert is lumed very well and you can see the numbers perfectly in the dark.
DIAL, HANDS, CRYSTAL:
Crisp, clear, deep black... You can see everything amazingly well. I'm sure this is due to the double coated AR on the crystal which is thick and domed. The layout is perfect for this watch; just like the classic Lemania 5100 watches. You have the standard hour, minute and small seconds which is located to the left. The 24hr/military subdial is on the right. The chrono hour counter which goes up to 12hr is at the bottom. Chrono seconds and minutes is central and highly legible. Date is fairly small and between 4 and 5 o'clock. I love the airplane chrono hand and makes it easy to tell which hand is which.
The TESTAF airplane logo is located between 7 and 8 o'clock. Writing on the dial doesn't bother me, seems just right. "Sinn, EZM 10 and DIAPAL. Made in Germany small at bottom.
MOVEMENT:
Since I mentioned the chrono hands I might as well state that it's engine is the Sinn SZ01 movement. Sinn has modified the standard ETA 7750 and added some features; mainly the centralized chrono minute hand as a throwback to the classic Lemania 5100. It took Sinn many years to accomplish this and to me this feature is what makes the watch. I love the old Lemania movement in my old 156 and EZM1. Some people may not care about this feature but after owning watches with a central chrono minute hand it boggles my mind that other watch manufactures haven't realized how much easier it is to read and try this as well.
The chrono minute actually jumps after 60 seconds unlike the gradual movement that I've been so used to. At first I didn't like it but now it makes sense and it hops and lands on the correct marker as soon as the orange tipped chrono seconds hand hits 12 o'clock.
This is also a Sinn DIAPAL nanotechnology movement which means it's an oil free escapement. Too technical for me but I just know that this is part of why it has a 5 year warranty from Sinn. Bonus.
PUSHERS, CROWN:
Integrated pushers are Black Hard Coating and Tegimented. D3 system which means you can operate them under water. Before I bought this I really wasn't feeling the integrated pushers. Now I wouldn't have them any other way. Crisp and easy to operate.
Like the bezel, the crown is also beefy and grippy. Being a thick chunk of metal makes it easy to grip and turn. Pulling it out you'll find its pretty darn sturdy with not much wiggle, it has a great positive click when it's pulled to position. Winding is smooth and feels/sounds great and screwing it back in is easy and I imagine it would be very hard to cross thread. Signed with an "S".
LUME:
Incredible. Extremely bright and last all night. Pics can do the talking.
STRAP/BRACELET:
Mine came with the black leather, orange stitch strap. Looks pretty good on it. Problem with me is I'm between holes and it's either too loose or too tight. I plan on getting a custom leather to dress it up when needed. For now its on the isofrane rubber strap and I love the combo.
The tegimented/titanium bracelet can be bought from watchbuys for a premium. I really want one and if this watch sticks for a bit I will be buying one. From the pics I've seen it looks fantastic.
Tried it on NATO- not that great:
TESTAF:
Long story short, TESTAF is a standard made for pilot watches just as ISO and DIN are for diving watches. This is a new standard that was created by Lothar Schmidt of Sinn and certified by The Department of Aerospace Technology at Aachen University of Applied Sciences. This watch came with a cool signed certificate as do all TESTAF watches. Sinn is not the only one to do it but is the first with the EZM 10. The EZM 10 was released before it was certified as TESTAF. They had to meet the criteria by putting lume on the chrono minute and seconds hands and applying the logo on their watch. So the early EZM 10's have a slightly different look with all orange hands and no airplane logo on the dial or caseback.
You can see more about TESTAF certification here- http://www.testaf.org
CONCLUSION:
This watch is of amazing quality. My first thought when unpacking it was "wow, this is built very well".
Complaints? As mentioned the sapphire bezel insert. Too shiny and doesn't go well with the watch. My other complaint is more of a "wish". I wish all this watch was squeezed into a 42mm case with 20mm lugs. I'm sure most of you would disagree with that.
As I stated above I was wanting another EZM1. After looking on the internet I see a lot of people comparing the EZM 10 with the EZM1. In my opinion the 10 has nothing to do with the 1. If I was to compare the EZM 10 to another Sinn it would be the 156. Call it a 156 on steroids.
Sinn built this to be an edition to their "extreme mission timer" line and the perfect pilot watch. I think they did a great job at both. Do I still want an EZM1? Yes, but not as bad!
Even though it's a larger watch, it feels great on the wrist. I really like this watch and like all mine I don't know how long it will stay, but I will enjoy it until it goes.
SINN SPECS/TECH:
Mechanical Movement
SINN Movement SZ01
Self-winding mechanism
29 bearing jewels
28,800 semi-oscillations per hour
Seconds stop function
Shock resistant as per DIN 8308
Anti-magnetic as per DIN 8309
Gehäuse
Case made of titanium, bead-blasted
Sapphire crystal glass in front, anti-reflective on both sides
Case back screw-fastened
Crown screwable
Water-resistant as per DIN 8310
Pressure-resistant up to 20 bar (200 m diving depth)
Low pressure resistant
Funktionen
Hours, minutes, subsidiary seconds
24-hour display
Date display
Chronograph with 60-minute stop function from the dial centre
Captive pilot’s bezel with minute ratcheting
SINN Technologien
Sinn Movement SZ01
DIAPAL – lubricant-free escapement
TEGIMENT Technology and therefore especially scratch-resistant
Push-pieces with Black Hard Coating on a TEGIMENT Technology basis
Captive bezel with sapphire glass insert
Ar-Dehumidifying Technology enhances functional reliability and freedom from fogging
Temperature Resistance Technology, therefore functionally reliable at temperatures from -45 °C up to +80°C
Push-pieces with D3-System
Maße und Gewicht
Case diameter 3h-9h: 46,5 mm
Case diameter 6h-12h: 44 mm
Band lug width: 22 mm
Case thickness: 15,6 mm
Weight without strap: 95 gramme
Zifferblatt und Zeiger
Matte black dial
Indices coated with luminescent colour
Hour and minute hand coated with luminescent colour
Stopwatch minute and Stopwatch second hand coated with luminescent colour
Pilot’s bezel with luminescent colour
Chronograph function with daylight luminous paint
Garantiezeit
5 years
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WRIST SHOTS:
Sundown
Nice review. There's a lot to like with that watch.