winders??

ive been thinking on getting a winder? how many of you use them? im of the mind set if the watch is always running, it will wear out faster? on the other side by always having to wind them buy hand, i dont wont to wear the crown out either.when you think of how long a watch sits on a shelf from the time it was made until the time it is sold, how often do you think it has been wound? if ever. i understand that the lube can dry out if not used a lot ? or atleast thats what ive been told. i will wind mind about once a month, unless i wear it a lot. any thoughts you guys might have would be helpful. thanks steve

I don't have many automatics Steve ! Up until just "recently" , most of my watches
have been quartz ! ..Although I have been wanting to focus more and more on them
because they do seem more like "real" watches with the whole mechanical theme. In
any case, I don't have a winder yet, but you make a very very interesting point here
about watches possibly wearing out faster on them ! That is an intriguing idea or theory
right there, and it does seem to make sense. Would be cool to see what others think
about this who have alot more experience with automatics, as well as winders !
Also think your thoughts about winding watches by hand, along with how long they
actually sit on shelves, and how long the lubrication in the movement lasts is GREAT !
These are the kind of things that are fun to think about in my opinion. I wonder what
the right answers are !

Don't use winders at all. I set my watches to an atomic clock as I get them out to wear each day. I don't think its a real issue to worry about crown wear. Before rotors people wound their mechanicals (and pocket watches) daily. Like you, I think a watch worn periodically will have much less wear than one worn daily or kept on a winder. I like setting my watch each day.

I have one winder. It is mainly a novelty. I sometimes used it a day or two before I have a specific watch to wear. I really feel the more a watch is used, the more likely it will wear out. With that said, considering modern lubricants, my watches should last me about 1,000 years. I guess I should wear out what I have before I get anymore. Like Mark, I like to set my watches.

I have a winder but don't use it unless I need to. I just let my autos wind down when not in use.

I actually bought a Brookstone quad winder. It is silent and seems to be holding up well.

I use it for my "rotation watches", the others are in a nice watch case and get set on the day that I wear them.

I used to be a "no watch winder guy", but I guess I have gotten lazy and just want to grab and go with a nice automatic instead of a quartz/digital.

merichar wrote:

Before rotors people wound their mechanicals (and pocket watches) daily.

Handwound watches are built for all that extra winding, autos aren't, so I keep mine on winders.

There are more complaints about cross threading and crown tube problems than any other problem with a auto watch.

I have tried using them but have given up. To get a quality winder you must spend some real coin. I take that coin and buy a watch instead. I hVe nevr had an issue with my autos other than invicta of course.

thanks for all of your info, i guess there are good and bad points either way you look at it. thanks again steve

Never used a winder and I never will. I see no benefit and only more wear and tear. But, that may be because I do not wear the same watch frequently so they do get some rest from constantly working. I have had No problems with winding by hand and that is on 13 autos and 1 mechanical. I do not wind my autos more the 20 turns. I feel that is more than enough when I am going to wear the watch all day. So far, timing and running of complications seem absolutely fine. My longest running auto-watches with out service are 6 years so far.

winders all the time, ive got 20 on them and its no different thn wearing the same watch daily like most of the world! when i had 100 watches (not all autos) i would hand wind about 25 pieces every night and never had a problem with miyota movements but i screwed the winding gears up in about 6 eta 2824 movements and sent them to the watch doctor at geeks and nothing came of it, got one back and told him to keep the rest! They would keep time perfect and run like a seiko just shake and go but wouldnt hand wind! For the few that arent on winders i set the date and time and give them a shake, no more winding by the crown! The watch doctor said the winding gears were worn out and i would just give them 15/20 turns a night! I will take my chance with winders getting loud, some heads quit running than screwing a movement up!

Purchased this 3 watch model from Wolf a while back. Has worked without problems since it arrived. I like the convenience.

Well there is another option. You could( if they're automatics) strap them to your ceiling fan and turn it on low for a bit. Yeah try that let me know how it goes.

Demetree003 wrote:

Well there is another option. You could( if they're automatics) strap them to your ceiling fan and turn it on low for a bit. Yeah try that let me know how it goes.

great idea, why dont you send me some of your autos and i will give it a spin!! if it dont work i will tape them to my truck tires and see if that works

Had one for a while, alway seemed to make my watches run FAST...

...don't use them any more.

Steve heres my collection of winders ...I LOVE EM

watchdaddy1 wrote:

Steve heres my collection of winders ...I LOVE EM

hey william, i wish i had bought that 6 head winder you have when they had such a great deal on them. great collection of watches and winders, thanks

I have the blue one onthe upper left (SWI) Wished I bought a couple more!!

most of the watches have changed and tried to put most of the winders in the spare bedroom as it drove my wife crazy, plus i always put black electrical tape on the lights, like a damn airport at night! the 6 head wooden SWI piece is the best beside the single wolf winders, the SWI 6 or 8 or 16 with the plastic watch holders has got to be my worst winder buy ever, glad i only got the 6 winder, the just arent made to hold a heavy watch! but the price was right! see a few shopnbc watches , need to do a re-shoot with the good stuff!

ramirez1970 wrote:

Purchased this 3 watch model from Wolf a while back. Has worked without problems since it arrived. I like the convenience.

Nice winder Brother, might as well go first class!

Those winders are BEYOND cool Ramirez, WD, and Trevor !
Kind of reminds me of a set up like James Bond, or even Batman
might have with all of their gadgets. AWESOME ! ..Maybe instead
of that secret headquaters, or Bat Cave, any one of these could
be known as The Watch Cave !

watchdaddy1 wrote:

MINE R CALLED MY WINDER SHRINE

..Hey, that's very ingenius WD ! ..COOL ! ..