Heads up! 656 news.

[dbradford]

I post this for information, seems like countless times I've been after a watch that is/has been discontinued, greatly frustrating my search for something that ticks all the boxes. So, I'll pass this along for people who might be sitting on the fence over this, my advice is , "get it while the getting's good".

It's sort of strange, this marketing decision, as it seems like the 656 is one of the best sellers for Sinn, both as an entry level, and as a simple pilot watch. But, I guess nothing lasts forever. The word on the street (straight from Sinn Germany) is the venerable 656 is going to be discontinued soon. It will possibly replaced by something similar, with full tegimenting. This is what I got from Maria in an email exchange:

"it is regrettably not planned to build a tegiment 656.
However, there will be a similar model with a tegiment case soon, approx. mid-July.
I will inform you as soon as I get more information."

and-

"yes, 656 will be sold out soon.

Best regards

Maria Hartmann"

This change might bode for other models as well, also. Anyway, this will hopefully clarify it for people looking, and they can get on the train before it leaves the station. The 656 is a great watch, from the accounts I've read. I'm tempted, but I just don't have the money right now, so I'll have to contend myself elsewhere.

Don't wait too long guys!

Cheers,
Dave in the Philippines

[whatmeworry]

Interesting and, as you suggest, surprising. When I bought my 656 from Jura watches in London last year they told me it was one of the most popular pieces they carried (although that may have been a sales pitch!).
It remains a firm favourite of mine, certainly an excellent watch. I'll be interested to see what they bring out to replace it.

[dbradford]

It was a surprise to me too..the saying "Don't mess with a good thing." comes to mind. I guess Sinn is just moving on..from the gist of it, Maria seemed to think maybe the 656 would be replaced with something similar, but perhaps with a tegiment case. That's a guess though at this point. It will probably be a pricier offering too. As soon as Maria emails me any news, I'll post here in the forum.

Dave in the Philippines

[HR F1]

Thanks for the information; glad I put a deposit down for the new 656L! I'll be really interested to see what is replacing the 656 if it is indeed being discontinued soon.

[TACSTS]

Seems like an odd choice to make from a business perspective to discontinue such a popular piece. I wonder if the 556 will be going away as well since the share the same case?

[dbradford]

Might be worth an email query to Maria at Sinn. I don't know how many models are going to be affected. I wonder if this bodes for a change to the U series line-up at all?

Dave in the Philippines

[HR F1]

I just read today on another Sinn forum that it's not only the 656 potentially being affected and that Sinn is planning some kind of revamp across its whole lineup later in the summer.

[obsidian]

I'm willing to bet that besides tegimenting the 656 they're going to up the size to 41-42mm. They must lose a lot of sales because 38.5mm is now considered by most too small for a sports/tool watch. Look at the closest equivalent from a rival-- the Damasko DC36: 40mm with hardened steel case. Sinn has to compete with/try to beat that. Like it or not, big watches are the trend in Germany-- look at Muhle Glasutte. Just a couple of years ago they had many sports/tool watch models at 38-40mm, now it's all 42mm and over.

[coelacanth]

Size revamp makes sense considering the trend, but I was really bummed when i saw the 50 year anni 358 was 42mm.

These 38.5mm models are perfect size for my skinny wrist and I'm glad I've got both 656 and 356 UTC. I'll be keeping them both for good.

[Dave E]

Damn! I can see the sense in releasing a larger model, there have been plenty of people asking for it, but I hope it's just a mistake that they're stopping production of the 656 as it is now! It's a perfectly proportioned piece, and has long been a favourite of mine.