After 3 month with my EZM-1

All I can tell you is that it is great and that I wear it everyday. I also take great care of it despite the fact that it is made for extreme conditions!

However, I have encountered several issues with it.
First, i had many difficulties to adjust the bracelet to my wrist : a friend of mine that also has an EZM-1 (LE) tried to remove a link on the bracelet with the right screwdriver (that he used for his own EZM-1). But one of the screw was stuck and we didn't managed to get it out! I had to go to a watchmaker who succeeded (I still don't know how!) to remove the screw.
There is also the fact that the hands of the chronograph don't always come back at 12' when you push the reset pusher. Actually it seems characteristic of  the Lemania 5100, and you just have to push it again to get it right. nothing big in definitive. . .

But I experienced something more worrying : After a few weeks wearing it, it suddenly stopped! I tried to shack it, to wind it manually, but nothing happened. the pusher weren't blocked. the watch just stopped without any reasons!
I contacted Sinn office for the repair under warranty and they were very fast answering my questions. They repaired the watch and sent it back to me. Since then everything works fine again. but I don't really know what happened. Sinn's papers indicate that they cleaned the movement and check the accuracy and the water resistance... but nothing really specific. They also changed 2 microscopic (really, if you put them side by side, their wide is smaller than 1mm!) pieces of the movement.
A real mystery for me. .  .

Chronology :

• I bought the watch mid August 2009
• I picked it up at London on August 19th 2009
• I set the bracelet on August 27th 2009
• The watch stopped on September 28th 2009
• I sent the watch to Frankfurt on October 12th 2009
• I received it back on December 23rd 2009
• I wear it everyday since then!

One last picture on my wrist :

wristshot of my EZM-1

My EZM-1

Now that I've talked about EZM-1 in general and that I've explained why I like this particular watch, I can talk about mine!

First, as you know, the watch isn't produced anymore by Sinn so it was quite difficult to find the watch that suited my whishes. Many of the sellers on the Internet ask too much money for their EZM-1.
The original retail price was around 1.5k€. now (I got mine in august 2009) the "normal" price is around 2300/2600 € depending on the condition of the watch, if it comes with ruber strap of titanium bracelet. you have to know that 3H EZM-1 are a little more difficult to find and sub consequently are more exepensive than the Ar ones. The LE editions are also more expensive because they are newer. ZUZ and ZTZ are almost impossible to find, and their price is way higher than for a standard EZM-1.

So, after some months lurking FS sections on TZ (TimeZone), WUS (WatchYouSeek) and other forums i found the graal! It belonged to a British and was comming with everything I was looking for.
It is a 2002 "Ar" EZM-1 that have been fully serviced by Sinn at Frankfurt in June 2009.

• Titanium bracelet
• Original box and paper
• 2 extra leather strap (1 brand new)
• 1 year warranty by Sinn (because of the service in June 2009)

I agreed with the seller that we shall meet in London for the pickup.
And here are the pictures that I took when i got home :

Full package

Outer Box

Outer box with operating instructions (German)

Inner box

 2 extra strap + extra links + glue for the titanium bracelet (never used it)

 Inner box with the glue

 spare links for the bracelet + crown(changed during the service)

extra strap 1

 Extra strap 2 (brand new, with Sinn buckle)

The box from the service at Frankfurt

I wonder what's in there ^ ^

 Finally!

On this picture you can see the copper sulfate device : it turns bright blue when it comes in contact with H2O. It shows if the water integrity of the watch is fine)

 Here you can see all the hands of the watch : hour and minutes are at 9 O'clock while the hands of the chronograph are above 12 O'clock. The chronograph can count up to 59minutes.

The specifications

The EZM-1 provides many interesting features that make this watch unique :

• Titanium case
• Shock proof
• Antimagnetic
• 30 BAR (300m water resistance)
• Argon filled
• Chronograph
• Date
  
• Light weight (61g without the bracelet)
  
• Lemania 5100 movement
• left sided crown and pushers.

The use of titanium ensure a great resistance to shock and provides a limited weight for the watch. The Lemania 5100 is an automatic movement that is no longer produced. that's why Sinn stopped the production of EZM-1. However, because they had spare movements in reserve, Sinn decided to use them and launched the Limited edition of 250 EZM-1 watches.
You can also find the Lemania 5100 in other watches and brand (in some Omega speedmaster, Sinn 156, Sinn 142 Ti Ar, Tutima, Orfina, Alain Silberstein. . .).

The fact that the pusher are on the left side of the watch (instead of the right on most of the watches) is intentional : pusher will not interfere with normal moves of the wrist and  when bending during exertion, including rappelling, and shooting. 

All those features make the EZM-1 a perfect tool watch!

Pictures!

I've tried to get pictures of all the different versions of the EZM-1 (you can click on every picture to get a higher resolution)

Left : ZUZ EZM-1. Right : ZTZ EZM-1

ZUZ EZM-1 (1)

ZUZ EZM-1 (2)

 

ZUZ EZM-1 (3)

 

 ZTZ EZM-1 (1)

 

ZTZ EZM-1 (2)

Left : ZUZ EZM-1. Right : "3H" EZM-1

"3H" EZM-1

"Ar" EZM-1

"Bape" EZM-1

"LE" EZM-1 (number 10/250)

 Collection of 4 EZM-1 (from left to right) : 3H, ZUZ, ZTZ, ZTZ with right sided crown!

The History

Sinn is a Frankfurt based German watchmaker. It was founded by Helmut Sinn in 1961. His principle was (and is) "The best possible watch for the best possible price."
Sinn produces many different watch models, and I won't talk about them in this blog. The easiest way of you want to know more about the brand is to go on their website . 
The unique model this blog is about is the EZM-1. EZM stands for Einsatzzeitmesser, and Sinn also produced other Einsatzzeitmesser watches called EZM-2, EZM-3 and EZM-4. they were all designed for extreme situations. For exemple, the EZM1 was first made for a German law enforcement unit, the Zentrale Unterstützungseinheit Zoll (ZUZ). there has been another special version of the EZM-1 dedicated to a second German unit called ZTZ.
Among those, only very few came to the hands of collectors. those versions are extremely rare.
Sinn produced classic EZM-1 from the last 90s up to the end of 2004.
Until 2002, the dial beared a 3H red sign which was indicating the use of tritium on the dial in order to make it glow when there is no light. It was then replaced by luminova, and the dials had an Ar red sign. Indeed, the case of the EZM-1 is filled with Argon to prevent any water condensation in the watch.


In 2008, Sinn, announced the production of a special limited edition of the EZM-1. Each of the 250 watchs had its serial number engraved on its side.


to sum up : 

• ZUZ EZM-1 (22 watches)
• ZTZ EZM-1 (10, but : 1 reported lost, and 3 had a special right-sided crown arrangement)
• "3H" EZM-1 (produced until 2002)
• "Ar" EZM-1 (produced until 2004)
•  LE  EZM-1 (250 watches sold in 2008)
• "A. Bathing Ape" EZM-1 (100, limited edition for a Japanese fashion brand)