Is a winder worth it?
Is a winder worth it?
Author
Discussion

CoupeKid

Original Poster:

891 posts

82 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
Bit of a first world problem...

I've been contemplating a new watch for a while. I've gone from almost buying an Omologato to a MHD to a Hamilton to a Christopher Ward to a Tag Carrera and have now settled on a Tudor Black Bay. I don't jump into these things!

So far, so good.

Goldsmiths and Ernest Jones are doing a £250 voucher offer but Beaverbrooks are offering a Wolf winder or travel case. Both are about £375.

Just wondering if it's worth going to Beaverbrooks. The complication is that there isn't a shop in my local town so I'd have to travel and I would want to get the bracelet adjusted.

I suppose what I'm getting at is whether it's worth the time and the travel to get a watch winder or whether I make up the difference at Goldsmith's or just cash in the £250 on a "fashion watch". SWMBO doesn't really do jewellery.

Jawls

772 posts

68 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
I have a cheap winder. I never use it.

Personally I think they’re pointless unless you have a complication that is a pain to set (perpetual calendar etc).

Otherwise, just give your watch a shake when you put it on, if you’ve left it a period and it’s run out of juice.

pistonheadforum

1,190 posts

138 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
Jawls said:
I have a cheap winder. I never use it.

Personally I think they’re pointless unless you have a complication that is a pain to set (perpetual calendar etc).

Otherwise, just give your watch a shake when you put it on, if you’ve left it a period and it’s run out of juice.
I agree - completely pointless unless it's a pain/risk to set your watch (very rare).

Leaving watches in a winder just wastes electricity and wears out the watch meaning it needs a service quicker than if it's used less.

I'd give it a miss - get a better saving and use the money not for a winder but for another watch as well.

Wills2

26,610 posts

192 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all

They don't wear watches out, the watch movement is specifically designed to move it's the only reason it exists, next you'll be saying don't wear your watch because you'll wear it out....winders are useful if you rotate between watches and you go beyond the power reserve between wears.

The wolf winders are good.


h0b0

8,721 posts

213 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
Watch winders are like leaving your classic car running on a treadmill in your garage while not in use.

Having said that, I have a wolf watch box and it is very good quality

Macneil

1,003 posts

97 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
You don't need a winder, and the true value is less than £100, you'd be better off asking for a small reduction instead. I've bought 2 tudors from Beaverbrooks and had 10% off each time after politely declining the incentives and credit.

McMoose

147 posts

38 months

Wednesday 2nd August 2023
quotequote all
£375 for a watch winder? behave. If you really need one a £50 winder will do the job just as well as a £375 winder. Ask the store for a discount instead.

CoupeKid

Original Poster:

891 posts

82 months

Thursday 3rd August 2023
quotequote all
Thanks for the responses. I'll try getting a discount.

I'm also relieved that nobody has dismissed Tudor and suggested alternatives.

BrokenSkunk

4,900 posts

267 months

Thursday 3rd August 2023
quotequote all
Winders will not do a watch any harm.
Harm is caused when you continue to use the watch after the oils lubricating the bearings have dried out.

That said I really can't see the point. It you have two or three watches, then yes, you could put the unworn ones on a winder and yes they would be wound and going ready for you to pick up and wear.

But even a fancy schmancy expensive COSC spec'd chronometer can gain 6 seconds per day, and unless you've bought a perpetual calendar watch, you're going to have to set the date every other month anyway.

Buying a winder will mean the watch is always going, but you'll still have to adjust it.

For a pick up and go watch, consider a quartz.

stevewak

522 posts

147 months

Thursday 3rd August 2023
quotequote all
McMoose said:
£375 for a watch winder? behave. If you really need one a £50 winder will do the job just as well as a £375 winder. Ask the store for a discount instead.
Not my experience. Cheapo Amazon ones with silly fancy glass and wood cases made in Far East do not last. Wolf or Kubik very good indeed. For complications, or old ones without quick date change they are a useful buy.

https://swisskubik.com/ they are expensive like Rolex or Patek are expensive versus a Timex (which are a lot better, quality-wise, than the rubbish winders for £35)

Mahalo

987 posts

196 months

Thursday 3rd August 2023
quotequote all
Watch winders are a good idea if you have some complicated watches that are a pain to set. Certain complications are also most at risk of damage to the mechanism when adjusting them - a watch winder reduces this risk.
As others have noted a watch winder does not wear a watch out and in fact helps to keep the watc lubricated and running smoothly.

Cheap watch winders generally don't last a long time in my experience - they either fail or become noisy/erratic.

anonymous-user

71 months

Thursday 3rd August 2023
quotequote all
I bought a Tudor GMT from goldsmiths & got free watch winder.
Sold that for £175 on Ebay unused

Underwhelmed by the watch. Not a patch on my 10 year old Omega.

Sold it after a year

Lost about £500 overall

McMoose

147 posts

38 months

Thursday 3rd August 2023
quotequote all
stevewak said:
Not my experience. Cheapo Amazon ones with silly fancy glass and wood cases made in Far East do not last. Wolf or Kubik very good indeed. For complications, or old ones without quick date change they are a useful buy.
So you have owned both cheapo Amazon winders as well as Wolf and Kubik winders?

Even if this were the case, somebody buying at the £50 price point would need to go through 7 winders before a £350 winder becomes the better purchase. No doubt there is probably a good middle ground product. However I struggle to believe that you cannot buy a box with a lasting motor and circuitboard for less than three figures.

Edited by McMoose on Thursday 3rd August 23:15

RD-1

1,143 posts

178 months

Friday 4th August 2023
quotequote all
h0b0 said:
Watch winders are like leaving your classic car running on a treadmill in your garage while not in use.

Having said that, I have a wolf watch box and it is very good quality
I’ve always thought similar, but never said it in public for fear of the wrath of the WIS.

Deep

2,382 posts

260 months

Friday 4th August 2023
quotequote all
RD-1 said:
I’ve always thought similar, but never said it in public for fear of the wrath of the WIS.
What does WIS stand for?

stevewak

522 posts

147 months

Friday 4th August 2023
quotequote all
McMoose said:
So you have owned both cheapo Amazon winders as well as Wolf and Kubik winders?
Yes, and I know it sounds mad but that is my personal experience from a Kubik and a cheapie in a naff glass/wood box via Amazon that makes a horrible noise and gives up after 6 months. A £350 Swiss-built winder probably costs £50 to make, then there is all the nice packaging, marketing and mark-up.

Why you cannot buy a plastic 'Swatch of the winder world' for £125, I do not know. Who cares what it looks like. It is, of course, a free world; each to their own, etc.

21st Century Man

42,434 posts

265 months

Friday 4th August 2023
quotequote all
I wore my Omega every day for about three years from new, then I put it away and it was unused for about six months. Upon returning to it, it was very reluctant to restart and would frequently stop, requiring a gentle tap on my knee to restart. I presevered and after a few days it started to run reasonably well for a few days solid, but every now and then it would stop. I got a couple of months wear out of it like that but then it died completely, requiring a service (at Omega) to get it fixed.

I got it back recently and I don't know whether to put it onto a winder for potentially weeks or months on end or just let it stop with risk of a repeat performance? (It's no longer a favoured piece).

This whole premium watches need servicing regularly and kept on a winder is baffling to me, when ordinary watches just work forever more, even when pulled out of a draw after a few decades idle.

Soft Top

1,473 posts

235 months

Friday 4th August 2023
quotequote all
CoupeKid said:
Thanks for the responses. I'll try getting a discount.

I'm also relieved that nobody has dismissed Tudor and suggested alternatives.
Watch winders - meh! I got one “free” with my latest Tudor, (Panda Chrono - so no discounts available). Sold for about £100 on eBay.

Since you posted 1 person has said they didn’t get on with their Tudor but I have to say I am VERY happy with mine. I’ve got the GMT and both Panda and Reverse Panda Chrono’s, (yes I know)!!! I’ve also got an Omega, Tag and 3 Rolex. I can’t find fault with the Tudor’s - OK the fake rivets but they are really nothing and the quality is really, really good. Side by side compared to the Rolex I would see different watches not different qualities. I would say the Omega, (Seamaster), bracelet is very nice but it’s also a totally different design. LOVE my Tudors.

thecrow

304 posts

208 months

Friday 4th August 2023
quotequote all
I have a winder and like that whatever I’m going to wear is already set and ready to go. None particularly fancy complications, some date, some day and date, some nothing. It’s just handy that whatever I go for is always set correctly. And I like looking at them in it when I pass by biggrin

andy tims

5,594 posts

263 months

Friday 11th August 2023
quotequote all
Unless you have a difficult to set watch, like a perpetual calendar, then no.