The Sinn Spezialuhren brand has always stayed true to its roots, ultimately making a name for itself back in the early 1960s with its pilot watches and cockpit clock.

Originally designed for the German Luftwaffe’s Tornado programme in the late 1970s, the Nabo 17 ZM was a cockpit clock with a central minute counter. These type of cockpit clocks are still used by the military today in Tornado multirole combat aircraft. They were also used in the F-104 Starfighter, the Breguet Atlantic – a long-range maritime patrol aircraft – and in military helicopters such as the Bölkow Bo 105. A special feature of these clocks was the start and reset buttons at the bottom of the case, as well as the easy-to-read orange hands of the chronograph’s central stopwatch display for seconds and minutes.

The design and style of the Nabo 17 ZM provided the inspiration for model 717. This timepiece also features a central stopwatch display for seconds and minutes in the form of large orange hands, which is created using our time-honoured SINN chronograph movement SZ01.

The case houses an interior pilot’s bezel, which can be smoothly operated from the outer diameter of the watch.

In keeping with its predecessor, the dial is distinguished by its excellent readability – even in the dark or under adverse lighting conditions – thanks to the sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating on both sides. All in all, and at 45 mm in diameter, the 717 cuts a fine figure.