The Guinand J41-HS102 is reminiscent of the Chronosport pilot “slot-timer” chronograph made popular by Helmut Sinn in the mid-1990’s and 2000’s.
The watch pioneer, passionate aviator and visionary entrepreneur Helmut Sinn, who died recently in his 102nd year, is regarded as the pioneer of aviation watches. He initially developed wrist chronographs for pilots and then for watch enthusiasts. His watches speak their own characteristic design language. The limited edition Guinand J41-HS102 is a befitting homage to Mr. Sinn’s aviation watches.
Mr. Sinn launched the model family J41 under the brand of Chronosport. The Tricompax model 41-J-02 was the best-known model in this series. This model is strongly reminiscent of the Heuer Bundeswehr chronographs, which were offered under the name Military 1550 by Jubilar Uhren Helmut Sinn.
Guinand was going to introduce this watch to celebrate the 102nd birthday of Helmut Sinn in September 2018 (hence the name HS102). But given his sudden passing away, Guinand has decided to present this watch as part of new Basel 2018 collection.
The model J41 was perhaps the most typical Helmut Sinn chronograph, because the ideal symmetrical dial corresponds to the perfect layout of a pilot’s watch. The most important characteristic is highly legible dial during day and night time. As with the historical model, the J41-HS102 features the 40-series housing, equipped with sapphire crystal on both sides and pressure-resistant up to 20 bar. The dial has a picture of the aircraft below the Guinand logo, used in the past by Helmut Sinn in Jubilar catalogs.
The indices and the Arabic hour numerals are covered with a generous luminous paint. The hour and minute hands are true to the original, and covered with luminous color. The sub-dials carry special-shaped hands. The only difference between this watch and the original Chronosport is the deletion of white date window in the hour sub-dial for the sake of symmetry. This watch is powered by the automatic chronograph Valjoux 7753 movement. The rotor of the chronograph is engraved with the edition number xxx /102.
Guinand J41-HS102 model is a limited edition of 102 pieces, and is available now to order via the Guinand website or at their showroom in Frankfurt. The watch price is 1,916 Euros (including 19% VAT).
Photo Credit: Mr. Matthias Kleuh and Guinand