Sinn/Kobold watches, opinions?

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Dec 28, 2000
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I currently wear a black face/black bezel (model 2054.50.00) Omega Seamaster Pro to work every day. It's a great watch for middle age guys like me that wear bifocals. Great dial, hands, etc. The bracelet (same one as on the James Bond SMP) is VERY comfortable.

However, I'm feeling fickle. The Sinn 656 and the Kobold Endurance A are getting my attention. Anybody have opinions on either of these brands/models?
 
between Michael Kobold and Sinn and will have quite a few similarities. Helmut Sinn was a renowned pilot and instructor who turned to watchmaking. The Helmit Sinn's watch company was sold in the mid 1990's and Helmut pursued other interests until Michael Kobold approached Helmut for assistance.

The movements inside the two watchs, the Sinn 656 and the Endurance A, are completely different. The 656 is highly readable and very simple... it's only function is to tell time. It is also regarded to be very reliable.

The Endurance sports a Valjoux 7750 movement which includes chronograph functions which clutter the face with subdials. Without going into precise details, the chrono function is difficult for me to use even though I have relatively good eyes.

I would suggest that you look into anything with a Lemania 5100 movement. I prefer the Tutima watches. They are very sturdy and it's readability is excellent. This watch uses the main face for it's minute counter instead of a tiny subdial.

Anyway, look here for a some info.
Tutima Nato
<img src=http://www.tutima.de/BILDER/WATCHES/798P1.JPG>

Tutima Nato Titanium with Bezel
<img src=http://www.tutima.de/BILDER/WATCHES/750P1.JPG>

I collect chrono's, and this is by far my favorites... I've got the both of them, along with a Breitling Chrono Avenger, Omega Seamaster Chrono, Omega Moonwatch Speedmaster, Revue Thommen Airspeed Chrono, and a few others not worth mentioning.

Also, the price of the Tutima is generally lower than all the other comparable options... if you're ready to get one, get in touch with a watch shop called Kenjo in New York... you want Mike Gacki at their Wall Street Store. He will give you at least 30% off. Maybe even more.
 
There are a lot of good brands in the marketplace at various pricepoints.

I currently own 5 premium watches. All of which are very good servicable watches. With a few exceptions, all the major watch companies use the same basic guts (movement) for the watch. They provide a unique case, face and, watch band.

For absolute clarity and ease of reading the TIME, diver style watches and some aviation oriented watches rule. Chrono's add distraction to the face and, I rarely use mine. So, at this point in time I find myself moving away from the complicated (and more expensive) watches.

Fortis is a watch brand that doesn't catch much press or nice flashy television spots but, that helps keep the prices down on a high quality "tool" watch. No, it probably won't impress your friends or coworkers who can spot a Rolex or James Bond watch from 100 feet away but, it will serve you well and take a softer bite out of your wallet.

Limes is a brand that few have heard of. You might want to checkout their NightFlight 2 series. Very good watches and good prices too.

7617R-la21-15.jpg

Limes

If I'm not mistaken the Sinn 656 has an acrylic and slightly convex face cover. Acrylic will scratch easier but, can be buffed out. Also, Sinn in general has no corporate identity in the USA. This may have changed since I last time I checked.

I consider Sinn, Tutima and, Revue Thommen to all be comarable watch lines. Tutima has the strongest retail prescence of the three but, I find my taste best met by the Revue Thommen line. Those RT Airspeeds are sweet :) .

When you know what type of type of watch you want (simple or complicated/Chrono), determine the size (40+mm or ~34mm), determine face color (why can't you buy a black face with a black date wheen with white lettering :confused: from the factory) and, then compare the brands, you may find yourself looking at a different companies watch line.

Have fun with your search!
 
Check out www.wartimers.com they're a distributor for Sinn watches in the U.S. out of San Diego.

I've also been considering a 656..the description I've read says that it has a sapphire crystal.
 
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