Sinn 156 / 1st Generation
Discussion
This is the Sinn 156, first produced in 1981 and discontinued 22 years later in 2003.
During this time there were three main variations to the watch; the first generation had no 24hr subdial and a 4-grub-screw caseback, the second variation had the full complement of subdials with the same caseback, while the third series had a conventional screw-in caseback but remained otherwise the same.
There were other minor variations too; the main hands went from in-filled lume to full lume; at some stage in production they ran 1/4sec interval marks instead of the less logical 1/5 marks and then went back to 1/5sec marks; the caseback varied between totally unscripted in the early versions (or just a small 5 number long ref. number) to the full 'Sinn etc' engravings; the chrono hands showed a variation between straight wing and swept style, particularly in early watches, along with variations in colour between red and orange. In addition there were both 'military' scripted dials aand non scripted dials.
Indeed, it seems there is little rhyme or reason when you start to look at the details, so this one asks more questions than answers them, for me at any rate - feel free to fill in any gaps...!
The general similarities between the case of the 156 and that of the Heuer is readily noticeable, however they are different cases, as outlined by DaveS in this post: http://forum.atgvintagewatches.com/showthread.php?...
As an an aside, there existed both a Kobold and a Bell & Ross versions, manufactured by Sinn but with B&R/Kobold branding. There were only about 20 of the Kobold 323 Pilot Chronographs, made in 2003, just as the 156 came to an end. Other variations or bespoke editions included the 'Fulda Challenge' and 'Project Take Off' editions.
Let's have a look at some examples of the first generation, notice there is no 24hr subdial at 12 o'clock as there were in all the others:
An early catalogue picture:
(sinnuhren-info)
Another two examples:
( http://www.lesmala.net/jean-michel/lemania/156B.ht... )
(Alan Cook)
And one currently for sale on Chrono24:
On all these examples the main hands are infilled, rather than complete lume as far as I can see, the chrono hands appear to be orange, swept wing types except for the one on Chrono 24. This leads me to assume that the main hands on mine are service replacements and perhaps so too are the chrono hands, the straight wing style seemed to make an appearence in the early to mid nineties, so again I presume this is when mine were changed. To be honest, I prefer the main hands fully lumed but would have preferred the original chrono hands, but it's not at all a big deal.
So, this is mine:
'Sinn' crown and raised crystal:
Sinn style early 'roller' bracelet:
One of the things to notice is that this one also has an English day wheel (although I have the original German day wheel seperately).
One of the mysteries around this particular variation are whether it is driven by a 5012 or a 5100 with deleted subdial; (not, as per sinnuhren-info, a 1340). As the case is a bit tricky to get into I won't be getting it off anytime soon to confirm either way, but as a) a non-24hr subdial does not necessarily equate to a 5012 and b) it sounds like it ticks at the same rate as a 5100 rather than a 5012 I'd have to err on the side of a deleted subdial 5100, for the time being at least.
Some more pics anyway -
A very bare case-back (except the 5 figure serial number):
In the wild:
On the wrist:
And finally, a pair of Sinns -
As ever, any comments/corrections/observations are more than welcome
During this time there were three main variations to the watch; the first generation had no 24hr subdial and a 4-grub-screw caseback, the second variation had the full complement of subdials with the same caseback, while the third series had a conventional screw-in caseback but remained otherwise the same.
There were other minor variations too; the main hands went from in-filled lume to full lume; at some stage in production they ran 1/4sec interval marks instead of the less logical 1/5 marks and then went back to 1/5sec marks; the caseback varied between totally unscripted in the early versions (or just a small 5 number long ref. number) to the full 'Sinn etc' engravings; the chrono hands showed a variation between straight wing and swept style, particularly in early watches, along with variations in colour between red and orange. In addition there were both 'military' scripted dials aand non scripted dials.
Indeed, it seems there is little rhyme or reason when you start to look at the details, so this one asks more questions than answers them, for me at any rate - feel free to fill in any gaps...!
The general similarities between the case of the 156 and that of the Heuer is readily noticeable, however they are different cases, as outlined by DaveS in this post: http://forum.atgvintagewatches.com/showthread.php?...
As an an aside, there existed both a Kobold and a Bell & Ross versions, manufactured by Sinn but with B&R/Kobold branding. There were only about 20 of the Kobold 323 Pilot Chronographs, made in 2003, just as the 156 came to an end. Other variations or bespoke editions included the 'Fulda Challenge' and 'Project Take Off' editions.
Let's have a look at some examples of the first generation, notice there is no 24hr subdial at 12 o'clock as there were in all the others:
An early catalogue picture:
(sinnuhren-info)
Another two examples:
( http://www.lesmala.net/jean-michel/lemania/156B.ht... )
(Alan Cook)
And one currently for sale on Chrono24:
On all these examples the main hands are infilled, rather than complete lume as far as I can see, the chrono hands appear to be orange, swept wing types except for the one on Chrono 24. This leads me to assume that the main hands on mine are service replacements and perhaps so too are the chrono hands, the straight wing style seemed to make an appearence in the early to mid nineties, so again I presume this is when mine were changed. To be honest, I prefer the main hands fully lumed but would have preferred the original chrono hands, but it's not at all a big deal.
So, this is mine:
'Sinn' crown and raised crystal:
Sinn style early 'roller' bracelet:
One of the things to notice is that this one also has an English day wheel (although I have the original German day wheel seperately).
One of the mysteries around this particular variation are whether it is driven by a 5012 or a 5100 with deleted subdial; (not, as per sinnuhren-info, a 1340). As the case is a bit tricky to get into I won't be getting it off anytime soon to confirm either way, but as a) a non-24hr subdial does not necessarily equate to a 5012 and b) it sounds like it ticks at the same rate as a 5100 rather than a 5012 I'd have to err on the side of a deleted subdial 5100, for the time being at least.
Some more pics anyway -
A very bare case-back (except the 5 figure serial number):
In the wild:
On the wrist:
And finally, a pair of Sinns -
As ever, any comments/corrections/observations are more than welcome
CardShark said:
So what was it that drew you to your particular version of the 156? Asthetics or movement related? Or because it was one of the first generation?
All those really; it's nice to have one of the more scarce versions of a range; I like the dial aesthetics slightly more than the standard as it doesn't cramp the script up and although it loses functionality it gives a clearer read. The movement was a no-brainer, I was swithering for about two weeks between this and a Zenith but in the end went for this, my 7th Lemania - it was interesting to discover what powered it as there was an internet consensus that it was a 5012 and after listening to it I feel it's almost certainly a 5100 with deleted subdial; but both are equally interesting to me.LukeBird said:
Very nice write up Andy, I love (and hate!) reading about the Sinn and Lemania stuff from you; the hate, because I know it's only making a purchase more tempting!
Quite a few nice Lemanias knocking around on TZ at the moment, RN single pusher Chrono and a SAAF Lemania.
Cheers Luke, it's all quite boring stuff really I'm sure Quite a few nice Lemanias knocking around on TZ at the moment, RN single pusher Chrono and a SAAF Lemania.
I'll send you an email about the SAAF.
At some stage I'll get into the 1872/2220 movement Lemanias like the SwAF / earlier SAAF / RN / RAF chronos; they tick my 'issued' box as well, but every time I'm on the brink something interesting with a '5100 family' comes up...
LukeBird said:
Not at all, very interesting stuff.
I like the idea of issued watches as well, currently wearing my '86 issued Sturmanskie.
Yeah - they are good those - it's one of the non-Lemania ones I have which is saying something!I like the idea of issued watches as well, currently wearing my '86 issued Sturmanskie.
As far as military connections go with regards to the 156 there is an interesting story; Helmut Sinn serviced the issued Heuer Bunds on behalf of Heuer back in the day. When the military came to renew their issued watches in 1979 they put it out for tender, so Sinn used a very similar case/bezel to the Heuer and put a Lemania 5100 inside it, called it the 156 and put it forward for their bid.
Unfortunately for them they lost out to Orfina / Porsche Design and Tutima, these were also powered by the L5100 (the clarity of the read was, I believe, a criteria). So despite the markings, there was never an issued 156, more's the pity.
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