A Rare Pair - Issued Tutimas have arrived

[sweets]

It was only temporary, but for about 24 hrs I had these two with me



These are both rare bezelled versions of the Commando II from Tutima, with Lemania 5100 movement, simplified to remove day, constant seconds and the 24-hr subdial.



These particular ones come direct from a German government disposals auction, and were previously issued to the ZUZ (Zentrale Unterstützungsgruppe Zoll). ZUZ is the armed unit for the German customs authority, set up in response to increased incidence of armed felons in the late 90s and set up with the help of the GSG9.
These watches were speifically custom made for the ZUZ, and supplied plain dialled (like this) or with a small ZUZ badge on some examples. It is not a watch that was ever made into a civilian version.



It is reputed that the Sinn EZM1 was also a result of collaboration between ZUZ (or GSG9) and the manufacturer. This is the same. The only difference is that Sinn went on to make over 3000 EZM1s. There are likely to be less than 50 of these.
And for me, it gives the EZM1 a run for its money. The addition of a 12-hr register is welcome. The Tutima case design with integrated flat pushers, all the way from its original issue to the Luftwaffe in 1983, is perhaps an even more focussed design than the EZM1, which has prettier lines.



But this isn't a competition between the two (I have an EZM1 as well).
The point is that I am very pleased to have secured what is one of my ideal watches.



I owned a Commando II before, and the addition of a 60-click 0-60 bi-directional bezel is a very welcome one.
One is for me, the other is for Andy, who spotted the disposal auction and pointed me at it. I did the rest.
The pair have now parted, but it was good while it lasted.

Dave

[KUNISMAN]

Great watches. Do they have a steril back or some reference to their function?

[sweets]

They have the normal Tutima caseback (civilian, not bund) script, including their serial number.
And they have what is most likely to be the supply contract number, and unique identifier within the contract. All numbers so far seen within that are under 40, showing how few of these were bought.
There is no unit engraving or similar "decorative" caseback markings.

[Bwana1]

Very nice, I love Tutima's...just got a DI300, would love to find one of those too :)

[Fatz028]

Nice watches! And great story

[Flightpath]

Very nice watches, I love chronos with simple, tool watch faces!!

If the Zentrale Unterstützungsgruppe Zoll let go of these I wonder what took their place?

cheers,

-John

[andy_s]

I thought that too, the Tutima/Bocia Bund perhaps, unless they managed to replace them like-for-like and continue to use the Commando II... Tutima seem to have an almost bottomless pit of 5100s.

I'm very much looking forward to getting mine, as someone who has an interest in both Lemania 5100s and issued military watches this is a hard to beat combination I think. The big plus on top of that for me is the chrono being limited to just hr/min/sec and so enhancing readability on the already hyper-readable centre chono dial, like the EZM1 & Lemania 5012s.

[CMSgt Bo]

Nice score Dave and Andy. My little friend says hi.

[Chris B.]

These are really sweet! After many years of wanting one, I recently was able to get one of my 2 grail watches, a Tutima DI-300, and I love it. Simple, utilitarian, comfortable as hell, and tells superb time. Of course, my other grail watch is also a Tutima, a NATO chronograph, but I probably won't be able to get one of those in my lifetime!