Thoughts on watch winders?

[Sharp Steel]

I looked into winders for my old Sieko watch. It has a button to push that sweeps the Seconds hand to provide an estimate of how much power is left on the internal cell. It would indicate that there was "6 Months" power left on the storage cell, but would be dead in less than 2 weeks. I got to the point where I was sitting at the TV and swinging the watch back and forth to have more reserve power available. The winder is just to keep the unit running when you are not wearing it. That reserve estimate gauge was not accurate after the first year of owning the watch.

Before actually buying a winder, I was reading feedback from people on which one to buy, even building a home made winder. Among all the suggestions was a comment to the effect "Don't bother with a winder. You will just increase wear on the self-winding mechanism. Just let it run out and then give it a quick back and forth swing to bootstrap the charge when you wear it again." Since I already had problems trying to get a replacement OEM band for this discontinued model, it made sense not to put it on a winder and wear out the internals. In the warm months the watch gets uncomfortable to wears, but in the colder months it is just fine to keep running. Let the charge run out during the Summer and will start wearing it again in a few weeks. I did have the internal storage cell replaced at a repair shop when it would not hold a charge for very long. I think it was $60-100 to replace (and a week for the part to come in), but that was a few years ago and I can't recall the exact cost. Replacement cost probably varies wildly based on the watch model.

 

[JB in SC]

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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My Rolex trained Swiss repair guy says wear it. Never mentioned a winder until I asked, he just grinned and said no. I’ve had my GMT Master serviced once in 38 years.

 

[DangerZone98]

My Rolex trained Swiss repair guy says wear it. Never mentioned a winder until I asked, he just grinned and said no. I’ve had my GMT Master serviced once in 38 years.

Seen a lot more users online say that their watch repair guys don’t really see winders as mandatory.

 

[Triple_D]

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 .

Yep, this.

I only have one mechanical watch, but have worn it everyday for 17 years (OK, maybe I missed a day here or there, but I can't remember any). On the other hand, I have a friend who has several mechanical watches. He rotates which watch he wears, and he says trying to keep them set to the proper time/date is a pain. So, he has a watch winder.

So, I guess it's more of an individual choice/situation. Personally, I don't need no stinking watch winder. I kind of enjoy setting my watch from time to time, and I enjoy winding the Chelsea clock I have on my fireplace mantel, also.