The Sinn 140/142 Chronograph holds a special prestige and is part of an exclusive club of important wristwatches.
That club is watches worn into space.No matter how deep you dive or how high you climb, there is something inherently superior when in regards to timepieces that have broken the terrestrial bonds and ventured beyond our atmosphere strapped to the wrist of an astronaut.
The watch that astronaut Reinhard Furrer took with him on the D-1 Spacelab mission in 1985, also known as the Spaceshuttle STS-61-A, Sinn’s reference 140. This resulted later on in the Sinn 142, powered by the aforementioned Lemania 5100.
Sinn 140/142s were also worn on Space Station Mir in 1992, and during Spacelab D2 aboard the Colombia in 1993, in all instances operating flawlessly under the harshest conditions known to man.
Just like the Sinn EZM1, when this movement was discontinued, so was the Sinn 142 (which came in stainless steel and in a black coated version). Because of that, Sinn offered the Sinn 142-II, powered by their altered ETA/Valjoux 7750 movement with classical ‘5100’ lay-out.
This model has been discontinued not too long ago. Today, Sinn offers the 140. This model refers to the original 140 that Furrer wore in 1985 and Sinn calls it therefor their ‘Weltraumchronograph’, freely translated into ‘space chronograph’. The original 140 was powered by Lemania’s 1342 caliber, and constructed the Sinn caliber SZ01 (ETA/Valjoux 7750 based) movement in such way, that it copies that specific lay-out. Slightly different from the Sinn 142 (or Lemania 5100) dial.
The 140 comes in stainless steel (Tegiment treated) and in black, starting at €3750 for the version on leather strap. The original 140 and 142 references can be found on the pre-owned market, expect to pay between €2000 and €2500 for one of these in nice condition. More if the condition is good and when there’s box and papers that come with the watch.
Offered in a limited run of 500 pieces, there is no question that this is an instant classic.
