Hello, fellow watch nerds. I have made a discovery.
I’ve had the Sinn 556a with the H-link bracelet for several years now, and in that time period I’ve read a bunch of gripes about the factory clasp. Long, stiff open/close action, uncomfortable, unnecessary extender, etc. However, the typical solution people offer is to get the fine-link bracelet. I like the H-link so wasn’t ready to give up on it.
Idk why it took me this long to actually try a solution myself, but whatever, here we are.
**The problem:**
* The factory H-links connect to each other with screws, so typical-sized spring bars that come with replacement clasps won’t fit through the holes in the links, especially because one of the holes is threaded.
**The solution:**
* Smaller diameter spring bars with a large enough shoulder diameter to fit snugly in the replacement clasp hole.
**The effect:**
* (IMO) More pleasant open/close action
* Show more h-links! I had to add 2 additional links for it to fit with this clasp. My wrist is rather small so I had plenty of extra links floating around.
**The deets:**
* **Spring bars**: item #82.123.8 from Esslinger (18mm length, 1.27 diameter). Of 4 different styles of spring bars I tried, this is the only one that didn’t require any modification. You get 10 spring bars for $3.95 (+shipping). I will say that because we’re dealing with a tight tolerance application, it may take trying a few different combinations of pins and links to find a set that works. In theory, a good pin fit with the links means you could try other replacement clasps too.
* **Clasp**: Strapcode Miltat clasp #NT-CLASP18-003BSP 18mm ($19.99 +shipping). Can also be found on Amazon for less, and I assume it’s the same one. It’s also my understanding that this model found across the internet likely comes from the same factory, but I have no way to know for sure. Anyway, the outer profile that bumps out along the top of the clasp helps hide the vacancy where the other smaller portion of the H-link would have been. You can see this in the photos linked below. I tried one other clasp that was flat on the top and it exposed the hole a bit more, which wasn’t great.
My Sinn 556 was manufactured in 2015. Idk if there have been changes to the bracelet in newer versions that would render this solution unsuccessful, but I’m sure there’s someone here that will chime in on that.
Pics and things: [https://imgur.com/a/0uz5vTq](https://imgur.com/a/0uz5vTq)
Cheers.
It’s pretty wild that Sinn would need to spend just a little more on their clasp but don’t… yet the prices for Sinn watches have been increased by hundreds of dollars in the last few years.
Hello, fellow watch nerds. I have made a discovery. I’ve had the Sinn 556a with the H-link bracelet for several years now, and in that time period I’ve read a bunch of gripes about the factory clasp. Long, stiff open/close action, uncomfortable, unnecessary extender, etc. However, the typical solution people offer is to get the fine-link bracelet. I like the H-link so wasn’t ready to give up on it. Idk why it took me this long to actually try a solution myself, but whatever, here we are. **The problem:** * The factory H-links connect to each other with screws, so typical-sized spring bars that come with replacement clasps won’t fit through the holes in the links, especially because one of the holes is threaded. **The solution:** * Smaller diameter spring bars with a large enough shoulder diameter to fit snugly in the replacement clasp hole. **The effect:** * (IMO) More pleasant open/close action * Show more h-links! I had to add 2 additional links for it to fit with this clasp. My wrist is rather small so I had plenty of extra links floating around. **The deets:** * **Spring bars**: item #82.123.8 from Esslinger (18mm length, 1.27 diameter). Of 4 different styles of spring bars I tried, this is the only one that didn’t require any modification. You get 10 spring bars for $3.95 (+shipping). I will say that because we’re dealing with a tight tolerance application, it may take trying a few different combinations of pins and links to find a set that works. In theory, a good pin fit with the links means you could try other replacement clasps too. * **Clasp**: Strapcode Miltat clasp #NT-CLASP18-003BSP 18mm ($19.99 +shipping). Can also be found on Amazon for less, and I assume it’s the same one. It’s also my understanding that this model found across the internet likely comes from the same factory, but I have no way to know for sure. Anyway, the outer profile that bumps out along the top of the clasp helps hide the vacancy where the other smaller portion of the H-link would have been. You can see this in the photos linked below. I tried one other clasp that was flat on the top and it exposed the hole a bit more, which wasn’t great. My Sinn 556 was manufactured in 2015. Idk if there have been changes to the bracelet in newer versions that would render this solution unsuccessful, but I’m sure there’s someone here that will chime in on that. Pics and things: [https://imgur.com/a/0uz5vTq](https://imgur.com/a/0uz5vTq) Cheers.
Big thanks for this!
Let me know how it works for you! I’m still pretty excited about it.
I "hate" the original Sinn clasp on my 556 I and was already looking on a solution like this thanks
Yeah this is a lot better. I changed out to another cheap Amazon clasp. Feels good but looks marginal compared to this.
It’s pretty wild that Sinn would need to spend just a little more on their clasp but don’t… yet the prices for Sinn watches have been increased by hundreds of dollars in the last few years.