[flybigjet]

Whoops-- I'd forgotten about this thread.....

Last month, I ended up flying around the world on vacation and ended up in Frankfurt for a few days.

I wasn't planning on going to the big Sinn store as it was about 30 minutes away and I was with my wife and our friends sightseeing for the day. Ditching them would have been.... unwise from a relationship perspective.

Anyhow, we're in a church square near the River Main when my wife tells me to turn around. There was another Sinn store right in front of me.

Since the watch band on my 856UTC is getting a bit worn, I figured I'd go and get a replacement.

While I was there, I saw a display with four multi-colored 556's. Before I'd left the states, I'd gotten an email from Sinn saying that they were a limited edition of 400 each-- and that they were sold out globally pretty much immediately after they went up for sale.

I took a few pictures of the colored-dial 556's and told the sales lady that it was a shame they were sold out as I'd loved the orange one as soon as I'd seen it. But, with only 400 worldwide, there was no chance for me to ever get one.

Her response? "We might have.... one left."

Her and the other lady there did a bunch of digging, and eventually came back with the last non-demo orange 556 that hadn't been sold-- still in it's original packaging.

My wife's response while this was all happening? "If they find it, buy it. Merry Christmas."

So, it came home with me-- One of 400 is engraved on the back of the watch. On the other plus side, I was able to get the VAT refunded at the airport and didn't have to pay any Customs Duty on the watch coming home.

I'm pretty stoked as orange is my favorite color. I'd actually shown my wife the email before we left and told her that they were impossible to get.

I got a cool hardbound catalog and coffee mug out of the deal as well.

R.