Homage watches — that is, affordable watches designed to look like popular watches that cost much more — are a controversial subject within the watch enthusiast community. Some view them as an accessible way for less affluent collectors to get an iconic look on their wrist, while others view them as cheap imitations or downright design theft.
However you feel about homage watches, the Sinn 903 is not an homage watch. The reason why the watch looks like a Breitling Navitimer is because Sinn owns that design. During the Quartz Crisis in the 1970s, Breitling fell on hard times like many other Swiss watch brands and was forced to sell off some of its assets. Those assets included the design of its iconic Navitimer, the rights of which were sold to Sinn to produce its own version.
That version became the 903 St chronograph, a beloved model from the German tool watch brand that has long ranked as the best affordable — and legitimate — way to get the Navitimer’s iconic slide rule bezel design on your wrist. Now, Sinn has released a brand new version of the watch called the 903 St II that might just make it even more appealing than an actual Navitimer while still only costing well under half the price.
SinnSinn 903 ST II
This Sequel Is Better Than the Original
The Sinn 903 St II makes some pretty significant upgrades over the outgoing 903 St. First and foremost, the 11 o’clock crown of the previous generation has been jettisoned, resulting in a more streamlined 41mm case that now bears even more of a resemblance to the Breitling. It also means that the slide rule bezel is now externally operable like on the Breitling, whereas before it could only be manipulated by that 11 o’clock crown.
