I have owned several watches throughout my life, although most were vintage and fairly inexpensive. After some thought, I decided to dump 20+ watches and put the money toward one good watch. I was immediately drawn to the 103stsa and the 142ST for their looks, value for the money and uniqueness (esp. in the US). I also liked the Speedmaster auto day/date; classic looks, good movement and (what I believed) long term demand for the watch. So....against what my heart said, I went with the Omega. In the interim, I happened upon a ton of money (sold an old painting I had), and went out and bought a used Panerai Base, which I absolutely love ! I have relatively skinny wrists ( @7"), but after 2 days the Panerai looked normal ((sorry for the long winded intro!)) Unfortunately, when I then put my Omega on, it looked like a girls watch! Don't get me wrong, it's a great watch, however, it wasn't a.) unique enough b.) waterproof to 100) c.) the watch had no history (the 861 does, this model does not). So, I posted it on Ebay, got my money back and purchased what my heart wanted, the 142 you see below.
This is an older model with the short pushers, different markings on the sub-dials and a German Expandro bracelet. Even compared to my Panerai, this watch is fairly heavy, though with the adjustablitity (is that a word??) of the Expandro bracelet, it sits comfortably on my wrist (I can't say that much about the PAM all time ;< ) I love the pearlized finish, which appears (sort of) like a cross between titanium and stainless steel, however like titanium it shows it's scuffs more readily than SS. The back is unmarked and just indicates a serial #. I'm desparately trying to get production dates,, serial # information from both Herr Sinn and Sinn Inc., but thus far have come up empty handed.
It's been said a hundred times, and it's true; this watch is an instrument watch and was designed to be USED, not for fashion. I even appreciate the watch the bracelet does not sit flush against the case; does an astronaut need this ? no ! The internal revolving bezel is wonderful, in that it's prefectly usable via the crown @10 o'clock AND the bezel will never scuff/chip/etc. The bezel crown gives the watch a slightly asymmetrical look, (aka Omega Flightmaster), and makes it look more scientific/technical/cool! The dial and the Lemania 5100 are a match made in heaven ! It's extremely legible and very well thought out; the white hands are the running (current) time, the red hands are controlled by the chronograph function..that's it ! The center minute timer hand is a stroke of genius compared to the Val7750 layout. I love the fact that I can instantly (accurately) determined the elapsed minutes rather than trying to decipher a 30min sub-dial. The pushers on the chronograph function are somewhat stiff, but somehow that reassures me that the watch is still 'tight' and sturdy (that may or may not be the cause, but i'm sticking by it!) My watch keeps time to +2secs/day, which for an older watch (any watch) is simply fantastic. Herr Sinn himself wrote me and said the watch was designed to withstand 10G's ... point me to any other watch that can match that specification.
All this aside, what really drew me to this watch was it's history. The FIRST automatic chronograph in space. These weren't giveaways either; the astronauts (the agency) had to purchase these from Sinn, albeit at a discount. IMHO this model should get a lot more marketing hype as this is a big deal! The Speedmaster did it first, but truth be told, if the 142 were around in the late '50s, it would have been the first in space, period.
Lastly, I love the uniqueness of the watch. I know for a fact that I probably won't see someone else wearing a 142; can the same be said for the Speedmaster, ExplorerII, etc? Probably not. It's a great watch with a rich history that can be purchased for @ 1/4 what a new ExplorerII costs.
http://sinn142.nav.to