Yesterday Driver8 was in a really bad mood and wrote:
I AM SERIOUSLY P****D OFF!!!!!!!
I just spent the last
hour (Honestly! From 7.07 to 8.04) writing a pretty comprehensive review of my new Doxa-replacement watch.... which as I'm sure you have now guessed is a Sinn UX. Several paragraphs, lots of observations and all interspersed with pictures, etc..........., and then when I went to post it the bl**dy site told me I'd been logged out, and I LOST THE WHOLE DAMN THING!!!
Suffice to say, I really can't be arsed to type it all again, so here's the cut down version -
Sinn UX, hardened submarine steel case, very tough and corrosion resistant, Chronometer rated ETA quartz movement, 44mm diameter, 13.5mm thick, 22mm lugs, case filled with Teflon oil, water resistant to "All reachable depths", certificate rating it to 12,000m (that's 1000m deeper than Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench). I like it. Done.
There we are - an hours lost work condensed into 3 lines. Brilliant. Lots more I could say about it as it's quite an interesting piece, and funnily enough I
did say a lot more about it, but then I lost it all and can't be arsed to spend another hour of my time on it. If you want to know more just ask.
OK, I've calmed down since yesterday, so I decided to make an effort to kind of re-do the original post that I lost yesterday, so here is something approaching my original review. Oh and this is being typed in Word first to avoid any of the hassles that caused me to lose an hours worth of stuff!
So, the Sinn UX.
Basically I've been looking for a knock-around watch (not a beater as such, just a rugged everyday piece) that I can wear in most situations including the office for a while now. I thought the Doxa SUB5000T was going to fit the bill, but unfortunately it turned out to be too uncomfortable to wear under a shirt sleeve. Additionally the design of the case, while being fantastic to look at IMHO, makes the watch pretty top-heavy which affects the comfort quite significantly. Such are the perils of buying a watch without having the chance to try it on first.
Anyway, a mate of mine owns a Sinn U1 and I was fortunate enough to be able to try it on, and as it’s the same size at the UX I had a pretty good impression of what it would be like, even though it was again going to have to be an on-line order. As Sinn do not have a bricks and mortar AD network in the UK I had to order it from their official retailer in the UK which is
www.chronomaster.co.uk. One quick order later and 2 days later a nice Sinn shaped package arrived at my house.
First impressions on opening the box were "Wow"! It's the "toolest" watch you'll ever see in your life! The sandblasted steel used is a very cool-looking and understated dark grey, almost like titanium but without the lightness or "scratchability" of titanium. The reason for this is partly due to the sandblasting itself as it reflects even less than a brushed finished, but also down the steel itself. For the U series of watches, Sinn use steel sourced from the company that is the contractor to the German navy. This is the same steel used to construct German submarines! (This is
REAL U-boat stuff here!
) This steel is exceptionally tough and corrosion resistant (as you'd hope if you were building submarines from it!) Additionally Sinn use their Tegiment technology to harden the steel further to 1500 Vickers. To give you some idea, regular 316L steel is around 220 Vickers. For some bizarre reason however, Sinn do not Tegiment the bracelet (the official line is cost), but as the finish is identical to the watch head, there are no aesthetic issues at all. My only
slight concern about the sandblasted finish is that you can't reallyy repair scratches yourself. It's not like you can crack out the Cape Cods or Scotchbrite pad like you can for a polished or brushed finish. Any scratches will no doubt have to wait until service time. But, to be honest, that's a small price to pay for something that looks as unique as this.
The bracelet itself is a very nice thing indeed. It has more than a little IWC Ingenieur about it in terms of link design, but the clasp is more of a Breitling style flip-lock design, but with the added benefit of a diver’s extension. The clasp also features micro-adjustment for that exact fit. While not being quite to Breitling standard, bracelet is still excellent quality. HOWEVER, there is one
HUGE irritation at this point, and that's the link removal. Sinn use grub-screws to join the links which, while looking fantastic and no doubt very tough, require the use to two 1.5mm allen-keys to remove........ and Sinn don't provide them in the pack!
Now I have a lot of tools for strap adjustments and the like, but in a huge set of allen-keys the smallest I had was 2mm. This meant I had to go out and buy not one but two sets of allen keys at a cost of £6 GBP each. If you're going to use an uncommon method of attaching links, at least have the common sense to include the right tools to adjust them!
This omission was all the more irritating as Sinn have been extremely comprehensive with everything else - the pack includes a double-ended adjustment tool with a micro-adjustment pusher on one end and a screwdriver on the other (even though there are no screws on the watch), and even a little bottle of thread-lock for the screw threads.
That aside, once you manage to adjust it, the bracelet itself is EXTREMELY comfortable.
The watch itself is a decent size while not being too chunky for wearing with a suit. 44mm in diameter, 13.5mm thick with 22mm lugs. However even while it's
reasonably slimline, it’s quite a weighty beast at 220g....... and as you know there is a very good reason for this : the case is filled with oil. Until last year the UX was filled with silicon oil, but this was found to cause discolouration of the lume over time, so last year Sinn switched to Teflon oil which overcomes the discolouration issue. It's this oil that provides the UX's frankly incredible water resistance. Think about most divers’ watches : they tend to be very chunky, and the deeper they go the more chunky they become. Just think for a moment about the 20,000ft by CX Swiss Military Watches - to be water resistant to 20,000 ft (6000m) the watch case is some 28.5mm thick, including a 10mm thick crystal. The reason watches fail under pressure is because of the air (or rather gas) inside the watch case being compressed. (Physics 101 - a gas can be compressed!) Most dive watches attempt to prevent the air inside the case from being compressed by having an exceptionally strong case - hence the huge proportions of 20,000ft. With the UX, Sinn have approached this from a different angle, and simple replaced the air in the case with something that cannot be compressed -oil. Consequently the UX is rated as water resistant to (and I quote) "all reachable depths".
As I said earlier in this thread, the watch comes with a certificate from a test facility in Germany rating it to 12,000m, which is 1000m deeper than Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, which is the deepest point on earth. In fact this makes the watch not water resistant, but essentially water proof. Consequently you have a watch that doesn't look like a traditional dive watch that is actually the most extreme dive watch on the planet. Very cool!
The use of oil in the case however precludes the use of a mechanical movement as they don't work in a liquid filled environment. However Sinn have fitted the UX with the Chronometer rated ETA 955.652 which put's it in-line with Breitling Superquartz. (Again as I say above in this thread, looking at the COSC certificate my UX came with, mine should be accurate to 3.65 seconds per year!) Additionally they have fitted it with a 7 year battery, so limiting the amount of trips back to Germany. One downside of this watch is that
ALL servicing, including battery changes, must be done at the factory in Germany. Let's hope they stay in business!
One additional side effect of the oil, is that the dial is still legible from incredibly oblique angles. It's a weird effect and the hands look like they are on the same plane as the dial. I've tried to show this in the pictures below, but it really doesn't do the effect any justice - you really have to see it in person.
The crystal is 3mm thick (I think) and AR coated. The AR doesn't reduce quite as much glare as Breitling's, but it's still pretty good. A lot of Sinn-fans have complained about the UX (and U1) having very fingerprint-prone crystals. While I'd agree it seems to show them a
little more than Breitling's, I've not seen anything to get me too hot the collar. Maybe I just have clean hands!
And the AR seems very easy to wipe clean anyway.
In keeping with the totally functional look, the crown (screw-in, obviously!) is located away at the 4 position to reduce the chance of snagging. (This watch was designed for the German special anti-terror force, GSG9, so it is built to exacting standards).
The dial is also extremely functional and legible with large lumed white markers on a black dial. The lume is OK, but not fantastic on this watch. I guess this is due to the oil allowing less light through, but either way as I've said before, lume is neither here nor there for me. The hands are all lumed as well, and reminiscent in looks of IWC's Pilot models, but they don't look remotely out of place on this diver. The final nice touch on the dial is the black date wheel, so keeping the dial as uncluttered and clean as possible. Writing on the dial is kept to a minimum, once again reinforcing the functional look. There are also no references to its water resistance capability on the dial, and I actually really like that. It's almost like they don't need to brag - it just quietly goes about it's business while going many times deeper than the overly script-covered Deepsea.
Overall I'd say it's build is exceptionally good..... although time is obviously the best test for that. It's not Breitling or IWC standard, but then it's not Breitling or IWC money. And it's also difficult to compare it against watches like that as it's as matt and "tool" as a Breitling tends to be shiny and attention-grabbing : they are very different beasts. On balance I'd say it's much better than most Tags I've handled, and at this price point I can't ask for more than that. You'd be hard pressed IMHO to find a better purely tool watch on the market today.
So there it is, the Sinn UX. In my opinion a superb watch anyway, but an
absolute bargain at the price it's at.
And here is my usual "real world" shot to give an idea of size -
Lastly just a quick note on
http://www.Chronomaster.co.uk. There was a slight mix-up on my order whereby I was sent the version on the rubber strap by accident. The rubber strap is actually very good - very similar to a Breitling OR in as much as it comes with a deployant and you have to cut it to size it. However I really wanted the bracelet version, so as soon as I realised the mistake I fired off an email to Neil at Chronomaster. Bearing in mind it was outside of business hours, Neil replied within an hour, and was hugely apologetic. He told me he'd send the bracelet the next day(which he did), and that by way of apology I could keep the rubber strap as well! Now
THAT is what I call superb customer service! I'd not hesitate to buy from Neil again, and I can't recommend him highly enough.
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That cheered me up! 
and rewritten the review of this watch that I was planning to do.