Thoughts on watch winders?

hhmoore

hhmoore

Joined
Feb 7, 2014
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I've been on the outside looking in when it comes to nice watches. Until recently, my "good watch" was an Orient (Blue) Ray II. It was inexpensive, so I didn't think anything of letting it sit unused for a few years before starting to wear it again (the story isn't worth telling). Recently, though, I've decided to up my watch game & purchased a few nice ones to make sure my "needs" are met.
With more than two, I can't just switch back and forth to keep them running (I failed to mention they are autos...but I might get a quartz as a dress watch, since that won't be worn often). I'm aware of at least some of the arguments - basically, lubricants gumming up vs excessive wear - regarding allowing "rest periods" vs keeping them running on a winder (for my interest, I'm not as concerned with decreased accuracy on a winder UNLESS there is evidence that correcting the time is detrimental in some way).
For those that have automatic watches, do you use winders or no? (If it matters, I'm referencing a price range of approx $500-$2300).
If a watch is run every 6-8 weeks, is that enough to prevent lubrication issues?
If a winder is used, how much does it increase the maintenance needs?
How often do you have watches serviced? Do you consider it routine maintenance or only as needed? (if the former, at what price range is it considered worthwhile?)
 
My Omega Seamaster which I bought in 2003 never needed service until a couple years ago when there was a breakage of an internal part. I'd say I had it on a winder for approximately the last five or six years of that 18 year period. That was the only service I've had performed.

I was told the current lubricants don't evaporate or need to be run constantly to do their job. (From the repairer.) I have no real experience in this arena and will leave it to others who know much more than I.

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Danke42 said:
You don't need a winder for modern mechanical/self winding watches.

You do need one for your sanity if you have multiple watches with date complications . Some people here have an insane number of watches. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/what-watch-do-you-wear.814427/page-274#post-22187460
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Indeed, if you have a selection which you wear in rotation it can be a real pain to keep them all going for instant use.

I was recently in Singapore and saw a shop that just sold winders. Some were able to accommodate a huge number of watches and the salesman told me that they had customers who owned multiple cabinets like this to accommodate their watch collection!

Personally I've never bothered with them.
 
Steven65 said:
Indeed, if you have a selection which you wear in rotation it can be a real pain to keep them all going for instant use.

I was recently in Singapore and saw a shop that just sold winders. Some were able to accommodate a huge number of watches and the salesman told me that they had customers who owned multiple cabinets like this to accommodate their watch collection!

Personally I've never bothered with them.
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I got a 6 watch winder on Amazon this year so probably the very same as the Singapore ones but for a lot more money by comparison at least.

Anyway it's a pretty good compromise and not having to pull out the crown and wind the dive watches every week is what does it for me.

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I have a larger collection. back in late 90s I went crazy with watch winders. had a bunch of them. over a short time I realized it made little sense except if one had automatic mechanical perpetual calendars or moonphases/tidal etc. ya have to reset time anyways so might as well wind it when ya go to wear it. also extra wear and tear made little sense to me after some time. I've given all my winders away decades ago.

likewise some movements didn't wind well on winders. I'm gonna pick on seikos movements. they didn't do well and went dead regardless of winders.

I see no advantages to them other than auto complications as I mentioned earlier.
 
Danke42 said:
You don't need a winder for modern mechanical/self winding watches.

You do need one for your sanity if you have multiple watches with date complications . Some people here have an insane number of watches. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/what-watch-do-you-wear.814427/page-274#post-22187460
Click to expand...
lol, true. i do have a lot of watches. most sit in the collection and dont get worn anymore. that one's a quartz under 50 dollar watch. which I know ya know. one of the best watches I've ever bought. It's one of my favorite beater watches.
 
jbmonkey said:
lol, true. i do have a lot of watches. most sit in the collection and dont get worn anymore. that one's a quartz under 50 dollar watch. which I know ya know. one of the best watches I've ever bought. It's one of my favorite beater watches.
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Yeah I have a few quartz I have to keep going due to sentimental value. No one gets left behind!

Seiko that eats about a battery a year and has a whole protocol to swap and reset.

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TAG that needs a 5 hour drive to a watchmaker that can swap and pressure test.

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I keep my watch on a winder because I don’t wear it regularly. The Orbita winder simulates on the wrist winding. The service interval is unaffected by winder winding since leaving a watch in the drawer does not slow the oxidation of the lubricants. I get about 9 years between oil changes. The watch is always ready to wear, the time is correct, and so is the date. The only attention needed is resetting the calendar for short months.
 
jbmonkey jbmonkey You've got a number of Citizen EcoDrives, though.

barleywino said:
Get an automatic watch with a power reserve indicator.
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The utility is limited though. I know it's about 40 hrs, and if I switch to a different watch it's going to stop because I'm not going to switch back (or manually wind) while I give the others some time.
Of course, the extra watches happened because I wanted a Tag Heuer or Omega; but told myself I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a watch. When I got 3 watches in & was looking for a dress watch, I recognized that I should have just bought the Tag...so I did. I'll keep my eyes open for an AquaTerra I like - figuring I'll get serious about that next spring (but hoping I get over it by then).

I'm not ocd about the date being right; I've worn the Orient for over a week without setting the time, lol. Admittedly, I'd find myself checking the time often, and laugh about it. I need a second hand at work, so as long as it's going I can use clocks and computers for the time. (I don't carry my cellphone at work)

*Edited to fix an autocorrect that changed the meaning of the sentence
 
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Doesn't seem like there's a definitive answer on winders. I saw some storage/winder combos... Maybe I'll grab something like that and decide later if I want to turn it on
 
hhmoore said:
jbmonkey jbmonkey You've got a number of Citizen EcoDrives, though.


View attachment 2325692
The utility is limited though. I know it's about 40 hrs, and if I switch to a different watch it's going to stop because I'm not going to switch back (or manually wind) while I give the others some time.
Of course, the extra watches happened because I wanted a Tag Heuer or Omega; but told myself I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a watch. When I got 3 watches in & was looking for a dress watch, I recognized that I should have just bought the Tag...so I did. I'll keep my eyes open for an AquaTerra I like - figuring I'll get serious about that next spring (but hoping I get over it by then).

I'm not ocd about the date being right; I've worn the Orient for over a week without seeing the time, lol. Admittedly, I'd find myself checking the time often, and laugh about it. I need a second hand at work, so as long as it's going I can use clocks and computers for the time. (I don't carry my cellphone at work)
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I've got a lot of automatics in many brands. actually a lot more of those than I have ecodrives. I've been collecting watches for many decades. 1960s models til the present.
 
I’m no horology expert, but here’s what I learned so far.

Short answer: IMO, you don’t need winders. Nice to have sure, but not necessary.

Long answer: The conventional purpose of winders is basically to keep your Monday to Friday watch running throughout the weekend while you wear something else. Come Monday morning, you have your work watch running without the need to set the time and date. Some hardcore collectors also use winders to keep their perpetual calendar watches up to date (since it can be tedious to reset those things); obviously doesn’t apply to 99% of us without fancy perpetual calendars. 😅

Whether you wear one automatic most of the time or rotate among a few anyway, I don’t see the need for a winder. Letting a watch sit idle isn’t harmful for it. My Dad’s Seiko Titanium diver sat dormant for quite a while but it kept good time when we took it out for a spin. Modern watches from reputable brands are probably hardier than we think.

Dunno about Swiss movements, but Seiko movements can go for years without servicing.
 
hhmoore said:
I've been on the outside looking in when it comes to nice watches. Until recently, my "good watch" was an Orient (Blue) Ray II. It was inexpensive, so I didn't think anything of letting it sit unused for a few years before starting to wear it again (the story isn't worth telling). Recently, though, I've decided to up my watch game & purchased a few nice ones to make sure my "needs" are met.
With more than two, I can't just switch back and forth to keep them running (I failed to mention they are autos...but I might get a quartz as a dress watch, since that won't be worn often). I'm aware of at least some of the arguments - basically, lubricants gumming up vs excessive wear - regarding allowing "rest periods" vs keeping them running on a winder (for my interest, I'm not as concerned with decreased accuracy on a winder UNLESS there is evidence that correcting the time is detrimental in some way).
For those that have automatic watches, do you use winders or no? (If it matters, I'm referencing a price range of approx $500-$2300).
If a watch is run every 6-8 weeks, is that enough to prevent lubrication issues?
If a winder is used, how much does it increase the maintenance needs?
How often do you have watches serviced? Do you consider it routine maintenance or only as needed? (if the former, at what price range is it considered worthwhile?)
Click to expand...
Lots of nice affordable automatic dress watches out there though. For more formal purposes, I generally give the edge to mechanicals over quartz.

Quartz are for adventures (G-Shocks lol).
 
They are cheap enough to just try ? I have two automatic watches in winders, so I can quickly put the watches on. Search Amazon for "Efaithtek Automatic Single Watch Winder", $37 a piece. One I had do lube the gears after a couple of years, but other than that they have been going strong for many years.
 
I've known people who had several watches on winders, that way if they wanted to wear a particular watch they just put it on and it was ready to go.

When I was going to my office for a normal work week I would pick out a watch Monday morning, set it and start wearing it. I would wear it all day all week so I could keep it running. Then the following Monday I would pick a different watch. On weekends I was frequently doing things where I couldn't wear my watch and I couldn't keep it running so I had some quartz watches for that. I could have used a winder to make things a bit easier on myself.

I've owned Seiko watches with the 7s26 movement (that movement has evolved into the nh35 and others that are in common use today). Those movements don't hand wind and sometimes I would not wear one enough during the day for it to keep running all night. A winder would help with that. Today we can buy the version that hand winds so just wind it a little bit when you put it on and it will be good all week.

I've read a lot about watch service and lubricants, it is hard to find real information on that. The general consensus is that a mechanical movement can go 5-10 years before it needs a service. The plain Seiko movements like the 7s26 are supposed to go longer than that but I've had my share of problems with them. I've had some of the better Seiko movements and also some ETA 2824 movements that started having winding problems when they got older. I could hand wind them and keep wearing them, for the cost of even the 2824 I'm not sure if it makes sense to have it serviced and it can be hard to find someone trustworthy for that work. Each watch owner has to consider their wear strategy and determine when they need to worry about service.
 
I have an inexpensive winder that my wife bought on Amazon a few years ago that I keep 2 Rolex watches on. I like being able to take it off the winder and the time is close if not correct. If you leave your watches on for a while, the dates are going to be off, but that is not a major concern. I like my wonder and it works for me.

Some people say they increase wear and tear, it I personally don’t believe that. I just had to send a Panerai for service- the one watch I almost never put on the winder.
 
I have more than a dozen watches I rotate. I have never seen the need for a winder. The simple act of winding and setting a mechanical watch is a small task that refamiliarizes me with the piece. In particular the manual wind ones that a winder wouldn’t help.
 
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