Watch winders??

Just bought one, will see 😅

They add 'grab & go' functionality to an automatic watch or keep difficult to set watches like perpetual calendars & moonphases always set and can look cool.

They also shorten service intervals and can cost a lot of dough.

I don't own one.

Shorten service schedule because the movement is always ‘working’? I thought it was good for the watch to be moved kind of like not wanting a car engine to sit for too long.

Love to hear how you find it.

So - when I am organized - I use my winder to wind automatic watches prior to setting and wearing them. This ensures that they are well wound and keep better time from the off. See thread link below.

But I don’t use the winder to wind watches that I am not wearing in the near future. So in practice it’s not used that much.

https://www.watchcrunch.com/TimeOnMyHands/posts/lightly-wound-watches-running-really-fast-358912

I was gifted a Wolf watchfinder when I bought my SMP. Never used it and I should really sell it, but haven’t got round to trying.

I have one but haven't used it in a while.

The way I see it, is that if every watch needed to be constantly ticking then every AD you walked into would have display watches constantly turning in a watch winder.

As this isn't the case, it's safe to assume that they aren't really needed, but do add the convenience of ensuring a perpetual calendar or moonphase watch is always accurate.

The only watch I put in my winder is my Black Bay Chronograph, and that's because the Breitling B01 movement is a pig to wind. But it's rare I even put that watch in one.

Thank you- didn’t know about fully wound vs not of movements

I’ve got one for my 2 moonphase watches as they’re a bit more of a hassle to set fully but I don’t put the rest of my watches on it.

To me parking your watch in a winder makes about as much sense as parking your car on dynamometer and leaving it running in your garage.

Unless you're talking about something that's a pain in the arse to set (perpetual calandar etc.) I don't know why taking 60 secs to set your watch isn't considered a welcome opportunity to interact with it tbh.

🤷🏻

Convenience it is

That's old news. Modern lubricants don't dry out if there's no movement like the old stuff did.

i built a DIY watch winder from a furnace humidifier motor and a pool noodle to hold 4 watches. working on a timer.

Heck yeah, love the ingenuity!!!

Winders are only nessecary if you truly hate setting your automatics, otherwise they are causing undue wear on the components, as sitting won’t hurt them. Think about two pieces of metal (or like a steel rod and a chunk of ruby sapphire) resting on each other, they can do that indefinitely literally nothing will happen. Add some oil between them and now you have oil and metal (and sapphire) just chillin, also indefinitely. Now start rubbing them together non-stop, you get friction. The oil does mitigate it, for a little while…

Wolf makes a nice one. Have one, never use it anymore.

You will find varing opinion as to the practical value of a watch winder.

Depends why you want one and how you intend to use it. If the watch has many complications the need to keep the watch on it goes without saying, otherwise it's like keeping your car running when you aren't using it. I have a large collection, so each watch is worn on a rota basis. I put the relevant watch on the winder the day prior to allow the movement to settle down.

It looks really nice, I hope you keep it on the mantelpiece

Its on top atm but going to screw it to the underside soon for easier reach.

A watch sitting and not running is better than being wound but not worn. Unless it is full of old oil...

Nope. Unless it’s a complicated movement (like a perpetual calendar) - that you don’t want to spend the time to set every time, I wouldn’t use the winder. It literally keeps the movement moving all the time, which adds wear to it. Using your car example…sure you don’t want to have it sit forever (although modern lubricants are not as susceptible to coagulation as natural lubricants used in the past)…but you sure as hell don’t want to run the motor 24/7 365.

The batteries in my quartz watches do all the winding for me. 😁

Meh. Overblown.

I mostly keep mine in a box but for my calendar moonphase, which takes a long time to reset if it stops, I keep it in a winder

I purchased one to keep watches that are complicated to set. My 3 handers and date watches I keep in a custom made drawer insert. Enjoy the winding and setting, it's part of the fun. At least for me.

Doesn't putting the watch on the winder take as much time as manually winding the wtch 20-30 times?

Not really as I just put it on the winder, switch it on and leave it until I come back to wear it - so only about 10-15 seconds of my time there.

Also as I am not manually winding the watch the crown stem wear is less (not an huge deal but valuable on my vintage watches that can feel much more fragile than an NH35 and where replacement/repair will likely be more difficult/expensive) and - if the watch has them - I am not frustrated by fiddling around crown guards while winding.

I wouldn’t buy a winder for this purpose alone but as I already had one this is what I now mainly use it for, which was the thrust of your question.