When Velociphile says something is better than the Breitling Navitimer, I’d tend to believe him. This hot little manual wind from Sinn has a great movement is is considerably cheaper than anything Breitling has to offer. Plus, it’s busy without looking cluttered.
The Sinn 903 is a better Navitimer for those in the know. Despite now being based only on the ubiquitous 7750, it beats the Breitling hands down as it stays true to the tool watch ethic at a sensible price. In comparison the Breitling Navitimer is an overpriced lifestyle product and, frankly, jumped the shark a while back.
Sinn 903 H2 – The Coolest 903 of Them All [Velociphile’s Journey into Watches]
Have any of you tried to use the small knob to rotate the slide rule? That is the main difference between the Sinn 903 and the Navitimer (there is only one Navitimer, a Navitimer is not a generic style of watch, it is a brand name BTW). It is a pain in the butt to rotate on the Sinn 903. Imagine rotating your hand all the way around your watch and keeping your left hand/arm still in position so you can see the numbers. Anyone that reviews this watch that doesn’t mention that negative has not truly worn or used the watch.
I believe that it’s your personal preference and nothing wrong with a Breitling Navitimer whatsoever. Please do not insult the intelligence and great effort put into the making of the Navitimer by Breitling. It’s comparing a look-alike to a design icon.
Hi Everyone,
Actually Sinn own the rights to use the Navitimer dial, they purchased them when Breitling went bust in the 80’s. So no, it is not a rip off, but a Navitimer made by someone else. The Navitimer Dial is a long standing collaboration between Breitling and the Pilots and Owners assosiation to create a useful “tool watch” for proffessional and amateur pilots, and is quite unique. However, the Sinn 903 is a true navitimer, with a true legal navitimer dial, a more realistic price, and guess what, the same valjoux movement and higher levels of water resistance.
Seems a simple choice to me…
Does anyone actually know how to use the integrated circular slide rule specialized for flight calculations?
The Navitimer circular rule, referred to by Breitling as a “navigation computer”, featured airspeed, rate/time of climb/descent, flight time, distance, and fuel consumption functions, as well as kilometer–nautical mile and gallon–liter fuel amount conversion functions.
But I would love to know how it works!
I agree, that Sinn makes a better Navitimer then Breitling. BTW, Sinn doesn’t copy the Navitimer. Instead it owns the rights to do so. A left over from Breitlings bankrupty in the past.
The reason for Sinn using a crown/knob to move the sliderule bezel is to give it better water resistancy then Breitlings Navitimer! Breitling Navitimers are water resistant to only 30 meters because of the rotating bezel. Something that Sinn improved on and making the Sinn a REAL tool watch.
Breitling Navitimer owners, do your research. Don’t drink the Breitling koolaid:)
The Navimeter circular rule referred to above is simply a circular slide rule. As a simple example, move outer bezel 10 to innerbezel say 20 and you have the 2 times table on the outer bezel. i.e. at the outer bezel at 20 the inner bezel will be 40. at the outer bezel at 30, the innter bezel will be at 60. You have to manually do the decimal point correction in your head. Division is similar e.g for 20/5, put the outer bezel on 20 and the inner bezel on 50 then read off the answer at 10 on the outer bezel. Basically, any “flight calculation” is simply a matter of multiplication or division. The “Flight calculator” has some built in conversions too with special marks around the bezels. Hope this helps 🙂
If you want a functional, durable aviation watch that is mechanical and you are moree concerned with functionality than in having the most recognized watch, a Sinn is for you. I was meeting with a client. I was wearing my Sinn 903. I got mine because I wanted a mechnical watch with a circular slide rule and the water resistance. (When I fly I use a Timex Ironman watch because any calculations I need to do are done by the GPS and the stopwatch functions are just as good on the Timex). He had a Breitling on. I asked him about the watch. His response “I do not know what any of the markings on it are, I just like how it looks and I like their ads.” There is nothing wrong with that, but it is a distinctly different reason for buying a watch than my reasons for buying a Sinn.
i recently purchased the sinn 903,after 3 months of research. I love this watch for all the right reasons.
1. It mechanical and robust.
2. very classy looking
3. no ones heard of this brand- fantastic!
No one who flies uses the slide rule functions on their watch. They use the larger plastic “whiz wheel” they were issued because it is much easier to manipulate and read accurately. A watch is a piece of jewelry – pay whatever you want for it.