purpose of watch winder

[triton]

thought that AC is abbreviations of alternating current which is the opposite of DC(direct current). both are in the form of electric power electricity supplied.

batteries are charged up using direct current.

correct me if im wrong.

One thing that I find useful in a watch winder is one that can run on both A/C and D/C.So when go holiday, can use batteries and not worry about leaving the electric mains on. Good for kia si ppl like me. LOL.

[ten10]

As Triton mentioned, price will correlate with quality somehow. But there are some brands that are poor quality but priced very high too. This puts potential buyers in a dilema. So how do we know which to buy? This section is for all of us to share our experience and to discuss about watch winders.

There’re really so many winders now and I know your predicament of which ones are the best.

The saying of, “You get what you pay for” is applicable here bro.

It’s hard to really recommend brand names here except when genuine users post their experience with certain brands and share them with all here. If suggest Buben & Zorweg, then I kena hatam becuz its way too expensive! If I recommend Mitch & Marc and if something happens (see picture below), then kena left-right-center hantam again!

This is an actual picture of what happens to a Mitch & Marc winder. The nice ‘carbon fibre’ look is actually paper foil pasted on the thin MDF housing and sprayed with lacquer. To me, it’s now an overpriced winder after actually seeing it myself.






Once kena water, it’ll swell up and split! Similar to chip-board furniture made by Ikea.



Incidently, I suspect this winder is made by Abest who also makes winders under the brands Kadloo, Brookstone, S1, Boxy, etc, etc. I’m waiting to get my hands on an actual Abest winder to confirm this.

Coming back to recommendations, so far my experience with Eilux and Orbita is good. I’ll be doing a review on Orbita winders after I’ve finished some of my projects next month; followed by Wolf Designs.

cheers!

[TheKing]

One thing that I find useful in a watch winder is one that can run on both A/C and D/C.So when go holiday, can use batteries and not worry about leaving the electric mains on. Good for kia si ppl like me. LOL.

[triton]

price and quality usually move in same direction. *note that i use the word usually, as it is not always the case*

however, there are brands out there that charges high but the material used leave very much to be desired.

take for example why is brand A triple winder cost 300 while brand B triple winder cost 3000. it does not mean that the ability to set TPD and direction correctly means that a potential buyer can go ahead and buy?

other factors - the watch holder holding the watch. will the cushion or its equivalent expands the bracelet or leather? if the watch holder is spring loaded, will it stretch the bracelet? why some use foam to hold the watch? is the foam able to last say 2 years? will there be replacement holder? if yes how much.

the material used to construct the external housing is it solid wood or compressed wood? if it is leather, what type of leather.

the power adapter provided, does it come with the right amp to power the winder....

there are many more considerations.

Any brand/model to recommend/share? Price is a concern, any cheaper one? Thks a lot..

[Valjeankhoo]

IMHO, what we keep hearing is only half the full sentence...

"An Automatic watch can never the overwind..." it should be continued with "... however, prolong and continuous winding will eventually wear down the slip-clutch barrell"

A good winder only maintains the state of wind, meaning if a watch is placed on a winder at half power-reserve... 1 or 2 days later when you take it out, it should still remain at half or slightly less. It should NOT be fully wound! If you may, look at it as a respirator for a watch.

When a watch requires 650TPD, this means the minimum number of turns required to wind it, or "keeping it alive".

200TPD or anything lower than 650 will see a stopped watch.

I have modified a pedometer that will help you count the TPD your winder delivers. Bro Val, you may borrow it from me to do a TPD count on your winder.

There are ways to lower your TPD other than using an external timer. But do post a picture of your winder so that I can analyse it first.

cheers,
ten10

Thank Ten10. Now i understand that TPD is the min and not the max which i had presume previously. Btw i do not own any winder yet. Still looking ard for one. Any brand/model to recommend/share? Price is a concern, any cheaper one? Thks a lot..

[ten10]

IMHO, what we keep hearing is only half the full sentence...

"An Automatic watch can never the overwind..." it should be continued with "... however, prolong and continuous winding will eventually wear down the slip-clutch barrell"

A good winder only maintains the state of wind, meaning if a watch is placed on a winder at half power-reserve... 1 or 2 days later when you take it out, it should still remain at half or slightly less. It should NOT be fully wound! If you may, look at it as a respirator for a watch.

When a watch requires 650TPD, this means the minimum number of turns required to wind it, or "keeping it alive".

200TPD or anything lower than 650 will see a stopped watch.

I have modified a pedometer that will help you count the TPD your winder delivers. Bro Val, you may borrow it from me to do a TPD count on your winder.

There are ways to lower your TPD other than using an external timer. But do post a picture of your winder so that I can analyse it first.

cheers,
ten10

[Valjeankhoo]

Actually I am considering getting a winder but I read up on some thread that says that if the watch is over winded, it will damage the internal mechanism in the long run. So i'm wondering do we really need to wind the watch to it's max capacity. While wearing the watch it will auto wind so what I mean is instead of reaching the TPD everyday, can we wind it to min instead?

I think using a timer as suggested is one way to go. Anyone try this before?

[TanWL]

You can use an external time to turn on & off the winder.

[triton]

there are many ways to address this situation. i am not like who is likely to open up the winder, change the things internally.

wouldnt you have to change the gears/motors to make the turning speed slower?

[seiko.citizen]

wouldnt you have to change the gears/motors to make the turning speed slower?

[triton]

how you going to reduce to 200 per day?

in an event you can reduce to 200. how you propose.

So if the TPD is say 650, can we just reduce it to 200 per day? Is it necessary to wind it to the max or can we just let it store some energy before resting it??

[Valjeankhoo]

So if the TPD is say 650, can we just reduce it to 200 per day? Is it necessary to wind it to the max or can we just let it store some energy before resting it??

[seiko.citizen]

goods tips all around!!

[Oceanklassik]

My belief is still this:

A watch movement is like a car engine. As much as it needs to 'run', it also needs to rest. It should also not be resting too long, or 'running' excessively. A healthy rotate/usage of the watch is preferred.

[triton]

most of us have the understanding that watch winder can be of convenience especially in case of perpetual calendar where setting each individual date, month, year, leap year, moon phase indicator can be rocket science.

some say winders are waste of money. why wind the watch constantly if you not wearing.

hence it brings to 1 interesting question. should a watch winder be winding up a watch or maintaining the power reserve of a watch.