I managed to get hold of a ZUZ version recently and although I have a) no talent and b) the digital equivalent of a box brownie, I thought I'd throw a few pics in. The ZUZ were the 'SWAT' style intervention branch of the German Customs, during its formation in the mid-nineties there was collaboration between Sinn and the first team leaders (probably GSG9) on the design of a watch focussed on the needs of this type of unit. It was a similar philosophy for all the EZM range, the other specialities being divers (silicon bathed, issued to GSG9 diving/waterborne troop), general field use (a normal non-chrono but a solid, competent watch), and fire-fighters (the breathing apparatus scale being the main addition in this case, also the second L5100 in the range). So, out of this cauldron, the EZM1 was born, 22 watches had special ZUZ dials and were issued to the unit - a few other 'ZTZ' marked ones were also issued to a sister-branch of the ZUZ. (About 5 years later the EZM1 was retired and the ZUZ went with a modified Tutima Commando II, also driven by the Lemania 5100). The civilian EZM1 used tritium on the dial and was marked '3H', later this evolved to the all SL version which had 'Ar' printed on the dial, in reference to the Argon gas used in these watches. About 5 years after this, the EZM1 had stopped production as the 5100 was no longer being produced - Lemania having been subsumed into Breguet long ago and the blue-collar movement no longer fitting from such a manufacturer, some production was maintained for military contracts, but ultimately it was halted. Sinn had plenty of movements though, and decided to release 250 last EZM1s a few years later, these were slightly modified from the EZM1 Ar - larger lume pip, captive bezel, outer a/r being the main additions. ZUZ 503.0169 - first batch of EZM1s made, with the bezel that has a slight off-set on the pip - later rectified for later 3Hs and the Ars. LE 503.3187 - last batch of EZM1s made, so about ten years and about 3,000 EZM1s between these two. The bezel insert numbers on the ZUZ are less shiny than the LEs, and also the insert itself is much more matt - not that the LE was shiny really, but the ZUZ just seems to soak up any light. It's slightly greyer as well and the numerals slightly slimmer. The crystal profile is much higher on the ZUZ than the LE - I think the Ar was an intermediate height. The ZUZ has an a/r coating inside, but none outside. This makes the red dial script just a tad more pronounced on the ZUZ. The 3H dial lume has gone a lovely colour, which seems to jar a little with the SL hands, but I like it - it adds a little colour and displays its age. There's not much degradation in terms of lume - the pip seems especialy bright but was perhaps the thickest SL layer on the watch. The older one is a slightly darker titanium than the LE - I think that's as a result of ageing of the titanium. So, a few pics... The two EZM1s - And the two ZUZ issued watches together - the Tutima being introduced in 2002, this is the 'no logo' version: I'll do a few more when talent/equipment allow! Andy
Ha - more "Zentrale Unterstützungsgruppe Zoll" - Customs (ZOLL) Central Support Group, wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zentrale_Unterstützungsgruppe_Zoll