The German sports watch brand Sinn, which sells its watches direct-to-consumer on the Web, has long prided itself on its close relationship with its customers. Its newest limited edition, the Sinn 556 Weiss — a watch for which the buyer can choose his or her own serial number — is a product of that connection. Scroll down to read more on this week’s Watch to Watch.
Despite being known for its tough, professional-grade tool watches specially engineered for divers, aviators, military operators and even firefighters, Sinn also makes more classically elegant timepieces such as the Sinn 556 I, one of the brand’s best sellers. The Sinn 556 Weiss is based on this popular model, but adds a new dial design with a matte white (weiss in German) background and a black Super-LumiNova coating (which appears as black in daylight but glows green in darkness) on the hour and minute markers and hands. Sinn says that a white-dial version of the 556 has been among the most requested models by the brand’s fan base.
The case of the Sinn 556 Weiss Limited Edition is made of surgical-grade 316L stainless steel and sports a bead-blasted matte finish that masks most small abrasions and scratches that the case might acquire over its lifetime. Its dimensions — 38.5 mm in diameter, just 10 mm thick — are decidedly modest, adding to the watch’s understated, dressy look. Also contributing to this look is the white central seconds hand, which blends inconspicuously into the dial but for the red tip that reminds you the watch is functioning, and the small date window (with a black numeral on a white field) at 3 o’clock.
The watch has a dual-seal, locking crown (which aids in its 200-meter water resistance) and a sapphire crystal with nonreflective treatment on both surfaces; there is also a pane of sapphire in the caseback, showing off the automatic movement (based on a “Top Grade” ETA 2824), including the big, engraved rotor that is in one sense the timepiece’s most precious feature. As mentioned above, the owner of each watch (of the only 150 being produced) gets to choose his own exact serial number (between 1 and 150, first come, first served), which is engraved on the oscillating weight.
The Sinn 556 Weiss Limited Edition comes on a black calfskin leather strap with white stitching and a steel tang buckle. A bracelet option can be added at an additional charge to the watch’s base price of $1,070. The watch is available exclusively at the website of its U.S. distributor, www.watchbuys.com. Below is a wrist shot of the 556 Weiss taken at the brand’s recent New York Road Show.
