Winders Keepers

I don’t just keep watch winders, I study them. There were 11 units in the past two years but only four units remain with me right now. It’s very interesting to see such a simple concept of rotating a watch can lead to so many variations in winding methods and systems. Even the choice of parts can become challenging and very technical.


Each manufacturer has their preferred choice of motors, thus determining the major part of the cost. The choice of the motor is integral as it will decide on the battery life, start-up voltage, speed of rotation which in turn give us the necessary TPD (Turns per Day), radial torque which determines what loads it can carry and the motor’s life-span. All these factors are important.

The assembly work is unique to each. Some prefer assembling the control circuit and motor to a sub-unit off-line then place this sub-unit (winding mechanism) inside the housing, while some manufacturers go straight to assembling the motor and circuit board right into the housing.

On closer examination, even the angle of inclination is different. In a winder, the watch rotor actually stays stationary while the watch rotates. This is due to gravity on the pivoted rotor. The steeper the angle, the more gravity is felt at the rotor. Let me give an example: -

When a person walks up a gentle slope, it’s easy because the force of gravity is not fully on him. But when he walks up a steep slope, it gets harder because of gravity.

So if more gravity is felt at the rotor, it means that whatever the turns, it effectively translates into torque to wind the watch. In a right-angle, it’s a One-to-One ratio.

The circuit boards were quite common in terms of design. All of them are Microprocessor controlled. Most manufacturers choose conventional components inserted on the circuit boards. Only few are populated with SMD (Surface-mount Devices) components. I was shocked to find some manufacturers use one set of drivers to power-up several motors. This strains the transistors that would eventually break down.

Winding drives differ too. Some prefer a belt-pulley drive system while most go for the direct-drive type. In the direct-drive, the motor is fixed directly to each rotating cup that winds your watch. The belt-drive uses one belt/pulley to rotate one winding cup. However, in one of the cheaper plastic model, the manufacturer uses one motor to drive two rotating heads. This is done using a rubber belt which reduces cost effectively but at the cost of its operational life-span. The belts used are made of low-cost rubber, the one you find in a cassette-tape player or the old turn-table.

Peeking inside, I see that the materials used to construct the housing reflects on the overall cost of the winder. The cheaper ones uses ordinary plywood but is heavily lacquered on the outside to give a lustrous look. In all, it’s generally true that most of the wooden housing is actually pasted with a veneer and not real “exotic” wood, as some claimed to be. Workmanship differs too.

Rigging up an electronic counter, I took measurements of all the winders rotation and two of the manufacturer gave false information about the TPD provided. They were on the high-side, above 2800 turns per day, although their brochure says is 800TPD. To confirm this, I went through a manual calculation. It’s disappointing that some sellers are only keen on profits and not worried about returns or returning customers. Perhaps they didn’t read my previous blog on “How to Sell the Best Watch Winders”.

I am learning something new everyday and this is what I wish to share.
Cheers!

Have a Merry Christmas & a Great Year ahead folks…

Labels: watch winders