[vjb.knife]

Hello Sinners,

I mostly post on the Dive Watch Forum but I have a question to ask you Sinn Afficianados.

I have a Sinn EZM1 (3H marked dial) that I really enjoy because it is light, comfortable, a breeze to use, and a cool looking classic military watch. I think it looks great on the Ti bracelet as well as the Shark strap with Sinn butterfly deployment buckle. To me it is the coolest watch Sinn ever made. It is in great shape, keeps god time and runs perfectly; the hands jump crisply right back to zero when you reset the chrono.

What bothers me about it is two fold. It is discontinued and therefore somewhat harder to service should it need it. Not only because the watch is not made, but the jerks that run Swatch (who bought Lemania) have decided that they will no longer produce the 5100 movement or any parts for it.

I have just recently gone through a hard time getting an old watch with a discontinued movement (Tudor 7928 Submariner w/ caliber 390) to get serviced, as Rolex will no longer even look at them. I am getting it taken care of but it was a pain.

This future possibility for the EZM1 along with the fact that the price of them on the used market is soaring has got me thinking of selling the EZM1 and getting something current and easily serviceable.

Most other chronos are just not as cool so it could be a big letdown, but I really hate chasing service problems and potentially having to pay big $$ for parts or not getting them at all.

What do you guys think?

 

[David Woo]

service on the L5100 is not a problem....

Most competent swiss watchmakers know the lemania movement line and can work on them. Parts are still available and will be for some time to come. Eventually they may become hard to find. Swatch is still making the L5100 for some government contracts (Tutima), but that may end soon.
I've had over 10 L5100 powered watches, and the most recent service was in mid year, no problem.
DW

 

[deano42]

Hello Sinners,

This future possibility for the EZM1 along with the fact that the price of them on the used market is soaring has got me thinking of selling the EZM1 and getting something current and easily serviceable.

Vince

I think you are going to have probs sourcing the parts...

...therefore you would be better off selling the EZM1 to me :-! .!

Nah, I spoke with my watch guy, 5100 will have parts available for a good while yet.

I have an EZM4, same movement as yours...

Thanks
deano

 

[Crusader]

I think Sinn, being the largest user of the 5100 movement, will be an excellent place to take care of EZM1s in the long future ... for Rolex, steel watches are a sideline, an afterthought - for Sinn, the EZM plays a much different role, being one of the iconic Sinns. I think they'll bend over backwards to service these and their other watches in the future.

 

[DavidCassell]

I think Sinn, being the largest user of the 5100 movement, will be an excellent place to take care of EZM1s in the long future ... for Rolex, steel watches are a sideline, an afterthought - for Sinn, the EZM plays a much different role, being one of the iconic Sinns. I think they'll bend over backwards to service these and their other watches in the future.

I don't think it is a problem yet and shouldn't be a problem for sometime, if ever. I'm more concerned about having to send to Sinn (because of gas filling etc) which stops me using a a local watch repairer. Keep the watch!

Cheers David

 

[vjb.knife]

Thanks for your responses guys; I figured that I was probably over-reacting. It is good to hear some reassurance though.

 

[DavidCassell]

for Rolex, steel watches are a sideline, an afterthought -

Really? I know they are more of a luxury brand, so yes, there are the tacky gold/diamond models. But the steel watches are ALWAYS popular, always in demand - Sub/SD/GMT/Explorer etc. I wouldn't say a sideline. What I would say is more of a sideline is the TUDOR watch which is in question in this post. A Rolex mvmt in a TUDOR watch is definitely sideline.

Cheers David

 

[Crusader]

Rolex steel models are a sideline when you look at the percentage of sales that they constitute. For WISes, the steel Rolexes are very attractive, in terms of percentage of sales, they are a drop in the bucket.

 

[racerx454]

You don't have to have the inert gas refill or the CuSO4 capsule replaced. If you choose not to do so, it'll be just like every other watch (including other Sinn w/Lem. 5100 watches) that does not originally come with inert gas/CuSO4 capsule.

According to Sinn, this is the current cost of EZM1 maintenance:

Maintenance, cleaning and overhaul the movement: EUR 129.00

Refurbishing the case: EUR 120.00

New gasket set including pushers and crown: EUR 77.00

Argon filling within new dehumidifying capsule: EUR 38.00

Return shipping: EUR 95.00

The concerns about gas refill/CuSO4 capsule maintenance are unfounded, in my opinion.

-Kevin-

 

[eosfan]

AFAIK:
Lemania stopped the production of the 5100 Movement. Sinn stopped selling watches with the Lemania 5100. They did it to have the remaining 5100 movements in Stock for Repairs. Tutima, another german brand that uses 5100 movements, too, is still selling watches with it.
The 5100 movement is a very popular and honored military chronograph movement. Due to that I think that there will be spare movements and spare parts for decades.

 

[DavidCassell]

AFAIK:
Lemania stopped the production of the 5100 Movement. Sinn stopped selling watches with the Lemania 5100. They did it to have the remaining 5100 movements in Stock for Repairs. Tutima, another german brand that uses 5100 movements, too, is still selling watches with it.
The 5100 movement is a very popular and honored military chronograph movement. Due to that I think that there will be spare movements and spare parts for decades.

Aren't 5100 movements still be made anyway? I thought it was just a case of the movements not being supplied to manufacturers who are not part of the Swiss Swatch group? I'm sure spares will be readily available. David

 

[eosfan]

Aren't 5100 movements still be made anyway? I thought it was just a case of the movements not being supplied to manufacturers who are not part of the Swiss Swatch group? I'm sure spares will be readily available. David

I am not sure about that. Looks like Tutima has this special contract.
Lemania planned to stop the production of the 5100 in 1998, because more and more chronographs were using the cheaper Valjoux 7750. The three major customers of Lemania managed to convince the people at Lemania to continue the production of the 5100. They had success but the price of an L.5100 nearly doubled. The watches became more expensive and the L.5100 was only used in watches that need a workhorse chronograph movement (military watches).

Some things can be found here:
http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/nouvelle_lemania_5100.html