ten10 Projects

Friday, December 4, 2009

Common Complaints about Watch Winders

All Watch Winders are not made the same! The hard truth is, “You get what you pay for!”

From the various forums and on-line stores, listed below are the common complaints listed in my order of occurrences.

Motor Breakdown

The motor is a vital part of the whole mechanism and cheap winders usually have cheap motors. If you have not read my previous blog about motors, some cost as high as $100 each and these true quality motors are not toys! All motors have a mechanical life-span depending on the parts used to build it. Some motors use special metals that have longer life-span thus ensuring the motor’s longevity.

Motor Noise

Like I said, there’s no such thing as No Noise in a watch winder. I would prefer to call it Low Noise. Noise itself is subjective but if the level increases from the day you first got the unit, it’s because the motor has reached its age.

Prices of watch winders are also determined by the type of motor used. So you get cheaper-built winders using cheap motors that don’t last long.

Winding Cup Stops

When the winding cup stops, two things might have happened. First, the motor ceased. The second would be the rubber belts the winds the cup is worn out, losing its grip.

Watch Stops on the winder

There are many causes for this issue which I will try to cover as much as I can.

1. Insufficient TPD

Some manufacturers simply copy the whole concept of a winder, redesigning the exterior and merely change the winding sequence. The winding sequence actually adds up to the total turns per day. Read my previous blog and what a winding sequence is. As a result, the fanciful sequence is practically there just for movement sake.

2. Wrong angle of inclination

This is tricky bit. Some winders have steep angles, while some are gentle. The rotor inside the watch, acting with gravity, doesn’t have the 360 degree turn if the angle is low. Each manufacturer (true manufacturer) has its secret formula in calculating this. However, majority of the cheaper winders I’ve noticed are off-the-mark. The angle of inclination also pairs off with the motor’s RPM to give a good wind for your watches.

Generally, heavy watches (in the Brietling category) require a steeper angle while the lighter ones are not particular.

Motor problem

As mentioned above, the motors may be almost at the edge and struggling to keep up with the number of rotations. This causes insufficient turns to wind your watch.

Drive System

There are pros and cons to both the direct-drive and belt-drive winding systems. In the latter, the belt usually wears out and in the former, the motor itself. I’ve seen a cheap winder that uses a belt-drive system to wind two rotating cups instead of one. This further stresses the belt and shortens the life-span. Be aware of cheap winders.

Wrong winding direction

Each watch has a particular direction to wind the mainspring. Refer to your owner’s manual, the agent or the manufacturer.

Watch holders

In every winder, a watch holder essential holds your watch in place inside the winding cup. This holder may be the plastic kind with an adjustable turn-screw or a spring-action type. It may also be a soft pillow made from faux suede, leather or foam.

The common complaint is the sizing. Some consumers are afraid that the spring-action type may be too strong resulting in expanded straps while others can’t seem to fit their large bands on a small pillow.

It’s difficult for a manufacturer to satisfy all needs since each person is different. I hope the consumer can be forgiving enough to modify them to their own needs.

On this topic, there was a first time winder owner who can’t seem to fit his watch on his winding cup slot no matter what. Problem was solved when he found out from the manufacturer that he was wrapping the watch the wrong direction on the pillow.

Losing or Gaining Time

A watch winder mimics hand motion and perhaps give watches more stored energy depending on the number of cycles programmed (TPD) set. For watches losing or gaining time, I truly believe it really depends on the accuracy of the watch itself.

All watches have a certain degree of accuracy or shall I say, inaccuracy. The higher the beat, the more accurate the watch is. So watch winders merely keeps your timepieces in a wound state, for any type of automatic watches.

Poorly worded Instructions

Operating instructions are useful especially for first time owners. A poorly worded instruction easily leads to misuse of the unit. Sometimes, it’s the result of a direct translation of one language to another.

Others – drawer can’t slide smoothly, etc.

Shoddy workmanship problems are most commonly seen for cheaper models as no final inspection was done at Out-going. In one form or the other, something will break down. And the scary part is “how soon” unlike standard models which have longer warranties to assure you that the manufacturer stand behind their products quality.

So don’t be caught in a dilemma when buying a cheap watch winder. A GOOD winder is what you need.

posted at 3:45 PM by ten10