I’ve been mulling over a tough, every-day watch for a while now and have been drawn to both Damasko and Sinn for all the obvious reasons. Damasko prices are a little toppy in my opinion, but I was recently tempted by a Sinn 155 that was listed on TZ-UK’s Sales Corner. I missed it first time around, but it’s now found its way to me as is so often the case in this incestuous world of buying and selling which we inhabit.

The 155 is a modern hommage to the Heuer Bundeswehr Chronograph. Manufactured in the 1960s and 1970s, the Bundeswehr was designed and built to German military specifications with a focus on durability. It had a manual flyback movement in a 43mm case and was intended to be particularly readable in a variety of adverse conditions. Sinn had a contract to refurbish these Heuers, and from what I can gather the release of the hommages was the consequence of having some 300 cases left over from that contract. This is where I’m a bit confused (or it’s a bit confusing) as from what I can tell there were two variants; the first housed a Valjoux 7760 handwound movement with no date but registers at 3 and 9 (much like the original Heuer) and these were produced specifically for the Japanese domestic market. The second appears to be a 7750-based three register version with day/date, and these were seemingly sold through Manufactum in Germany. I may even be wrong in thinking that both of these variants were from the same batch of 300 cases, and I have no idea what the connection is with the earlier Sinn 156, if any.

Frankly, I’m not going to worry about it unduly but if anyone can add some clarity to the above it would be appreciated. In the meantime, here’s a couple of shots showing the watch paired with a custom Camille Fournet sharkskin strap that I had in my strap box. Well, it may not be showing that very well because my photos tend to be a bit moody but it really is a very good match.