Despite their impeccable concept and product quality, there are many watches that have failed to receive the recognition they deserve and have been forgotten. In this irregular series, Masamasa Hirota, editor-in-chief of Chronos Japan, shines a spotlight on such masterpieces. In this commemorative first installment, we will introduce the Sinn 244TI.I, a watch that Hirota absolutely loves.
Text by Masayuki Hirota (Chronos-Japan)
Photo by Yuto Hosoda (Chronos Japan):
Photographs by Yuto Hosoda (Chronos-Japan)
(Article published on October 9, 2020)
Simple yet high-spec Sinn "244TI.I"
I'm a big Sinn fan. Ever since I bought a hand-wound "103" during my freshman year of college, I've unconditionally loved the watches made by this manufacturer. Some fans say that the Helmut Sinn era was the best, but I like both the Sinn era and the current Lothar Schmidt era products equally.
I have bought many different Sinn watches, but my favorites have always been the basic 103 and, even more so, the 244TI.I. The reason I like this model is that, despite its simple appearance, it is equipped with the high specs that are typical of Sinn.
This ambitious model, released in 1994, not only housed a highly accurate chronometer in a lightweight titanium case, but also boasted high magnetic resistance of approximately 80,000 A/m and high shock resistance thanks to rubber shock absorbers. All models come with a chronometer certificate. 1200 were produced between 1994 and 2006. The 244TI.F, which lacked bar indexes, was also sold. The photo shows the 244TI after an overhaul. It's in surprisingly good condition for a watch from the mid-1990s. Its average daily rate is +3 seconds, an excellent figure. Automatic movement (ETA2892A2). 21 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve: approximately 42 hours. Ti (diameter 36mm, thickness 10.5mm, weight 80g). Water resistant to 20 bar. Magnetic resistance: approximately 80,000 A/m.
The 36mm case is made of titanium and the movement is the ETA2892A2, a chronometer specification. Like the IWC Ingenieur, the movement is enclosed in a soft iron inner case and dial, providing magnetic resistance of approximately 80,000 A/m. The inner case is also supported by eight rubber blocks to enhance shock resistance. Lightweight and easy to use, yet highly accurate, and resistant to magnetism and shocks, it's the ideal practical watch.
I'm so enthusiastic about this model that I've bought three so far. No matter how worn out they are, they're still 2892s, so they can be completely repaired, and perhaps because they're not popular, the used prices are ridiculously low. For someone like me who likes affordable, high-quality practical watches, the 244TI was just the thing. If you were looking for a watch similar to this, you'd have to look no further than IWC's Ingenieur, part of the Jaeger-LeCoultre 889 series, but it's just too well made. Unlike the 244TI, it's not something you can wear without any worries.
I've been working with watches for a while, and I'd forgotten about the 244TI for a while, but then I happened to come across one online, and my 244 fever was rekindled. I was confident I'd be able to find one easily like I used to, but I never saw one, and even when I did, it was expensive. While browsing the internet, I came across a one-owner one for sale on Chrono24, so I had no choice but to pull it from Austria. Of course, the price is reasonable, considering I could afford it.
Incidentally, the 244TI was the first model designed by current CEO Lothar Schmidt. As an engineer at IWC, he heard that founder Helmut Sinn was planning to sell the company, and he spent a lot of time persuading him to do so. After taking over, Schmidt aimed to transform Sinn from a manufacturer solely focused on pilot's watches into a manufacturer of original timepieces. The first model was the 244TI, a titanium chronometer, which was released in 1994.
Schmidt later explained to me the origins of the 244TI. "I was also involved in the planning of the Ingenieur 50 A/m at IWC. I wanted the new 244TI to be a different watch." The 244TI, his first project, was a culmination of the know-how he had cultivated during his time at IWC. He said that the original idea came to him in 92, before he took over management of Sinn. He used the Ingenieur mechanism as a reference and added a design modeled after Sinn's "144." Incidentally, the 244TI was designed by Schmidt himself.
The 244TI's distinctive design, with the movement supported by eight rubber blocks, is very similar to the IWC "Yacht Club" from the 1960s. I thought the 244TI was a repurposed version of that watch, but it seems that's not the case. "The rubber shock-resistant mechanism is modeled after the IWC Ingenieur Ref. 5215 pocket watch that I developed," Schmid explains.
The 5215 he designed was unique in that it housed the pocket watch movement Cal. 952 in a soft iron anti-magnetic case and shock absorber. This was the reason that the 18,000 vph movement, perfected in the 1930s, could be fitted into a sports watch. However, the 5215's shock absorber was a "primitive" design, consisting of a thick O-ring fitted around the entire periphery of the anti-magnetic case.
In contrast, the 244TI's structure, supported by eight rubber blocks, is even more refined. The adoption of a "floating" structure for the movement also resulted in the winding stem being split into two parts. Screwing in the crown cuts the connection between the winding stem, making it less likely for damage to be transmitted to the movement even when subjected to a strong impact.
For Schmidt, who was involved in the development of the Ocean 2000, which had a titanium case, during his time at IWC, the adoption of a titanium case was a given. However, unlike the large manufacturer IWC, working with titanium on a Sinn watch on its scale was difficult. Schmidt reveals that the most difficult part of developing the 244TI was the titanium exterior. "The most difficult part was collaborating with the case manufacturer. The manufacturer had a hard time handling the titanium material." The exterior was manufactured by a small case manufacturer called Danzbaum in the canton of Jura.
Schmidt came up with the idea for the 244TI while he was still at IWC. If he had stayed at IWC, the next generation of Ingenieurs might have had a similar configuration to the 244TI. It makes sense that I, an IWC fanatic, was drawn to the 244TI.
