Sinn (watch brand)
| Sinn Spezialuhren GmbH
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_logo.svg){kind=logo} |
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| legal form | Company with limited liability |
| founding | 1961 |
| Seat | Frankfurt am Main |
| Branch | Watch manufacturer |
| Website | www.sinn.de |
Sinn Spezialuhren GmbH is a manufacturer of mechanical wristwatches and quartz watches. The company, based in Frankfurt am Main , was founded in 1961 by the flight instructor and pilot Helmut Sinn under the name "Helmut Sinn Spezialuhren".
history
After it was founded in 1961, the company concentrated on the production of pilot's chronographs, industrial, racing and diving watches and sold them directly , eliminating the intermediary trade. The watches were produced according to the specifications of Helmut Sinn in the private label sector in Switzerland . By eliminating the intermediate trade, the company was able to offer the watches more cheaply than through the traditional sales channels. Quality and price-performance ratio quickly got around, especially among pilots. Helmut Sinn's previous professional activity as a pilot also proved to be helpful here. In 1994 Helmut Sinn sold the company to Lothar Schmidt.
Helmut Sinn acquired the Swiss watch brand Guinand in 1996 and founded a new company in Frankfurt am Main in 1998. With this company he also offered watches from the brands Jubilar, Chronosport and Guinand in direct sales. In 2006 he retired from active business life and only worked as a consultant in the company. Helmut Sinn died in 2018 at the age of 101.
When the company was taken over in 1994 by the graduate engineer Lothar Schmidt, a new phase began for the company. Lothar Schmidt himself had been working for Sinn Spezialuhren since September 1993. Before that, he had been with IWC in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, since 1981 , initially as a freelancer and later as an authorized signatory. He was responsible for the construction and operation of case and strap production as well as construction and development. Later he also took over the construction and operation of the factory parts production. From 1990 until his departure, he was also in charge of the production and logistical development of A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte , Saxony , which was re-established after the fall of the Wall , at that time a subsidiary of IWC . Major changes were made at Sinn Spezialuhren under his leadership. He separated from the private label sector, expanded the model range, developed his own watch models and innovative technologies . In addition to direct sales, Lothar Schmidt introduced so-called depots. These are selected jewelers and watch shops that also sell the watches. In addition, the name was changed to Sinn Spezialuhren GmbH.
The company still assembles and regulates its clocks mainly in Frankfurt am Main. Over 14,000 watches are currently sold each year. The following product lines exist: instrumental chronographs, instrumental watches, diving watches, navigation clocks and stopwatches, Frankfurt financial center watches, classic masterpieces, ladies' watches.
One focus within the product lines are the mission timers (EZM) for professional users, which have been designed by Sinn Spezialuhren since 1997.
Another focus is the series of Frankfurt financial center watches launched in 1999.
Every year the company trains two apprentices in the watchmaking trade for three years . In the past, individual apprentices were honored as chamber, state or national winners in the watchmaking trade.
Since May 2015, Sinn Spezialuhren has had additional new sales and workshop rooms on the Römerberg, directly in Frankfurt's old town in the "Haus zum Goldenen Rad".
Since September 1, 2017, the new headquarters in Frankfurt-Sossenheim has been located at Wilhelm-Fay-Straße 21. In the course of this move, the previous headquarters in Frankfurt-Rödelheim was given up.
Saxon Clock Technology GmbH (SUG)
In 1999 Lothar Schmidt founded their own case company, Sächsische Uhrentechnologie GmbH (SUG) in Glashütte, together with Walter Fricker (owner of the Fricker case company, Pforzheim) and Ronald Boldt, the former head of technology and quality assurance at the Glashütte watch company. Walter Fricker is no longer involved. Besides Sinn Spezialuhren, the main buyers of the cases are other well-known watch manufacturers.
Awards
1st place at the golden balance
- 1998: 103 Ti Ar (watches up to 2,000 marks)
- 2006: Frankfurt financial center watch in white gold (watches up to 10,000 euros)
- 2008: 6100 REGULATEUR rose gold (watches up to 10,000 euros)
- 2010: 900 FLIEGER (watches up to 2,500 euros)
- 2010: 6100 REGULATEUR rose gold (watches up to 10,000 euros)
- 2012: Frankfurt financial center watch in platinum (watches up to 25,000 euros)
- 2019: EZM 12 in the "Product Design" category
- 2020: 936 in the "Product Design" category
- 2020: EZM 12 and JAGDUHR 3006 in the category "Excellent Product Design" 2020
literature
- Hans Heinrich Schmid: Lexicon of the German watch industry 1850–1980 . Förderkreis Lebendiges Uhrenindustriemuseum eV, Villingen-Schwenningen 2005, ISBN 3-927987-91-3 .