The Aesthetics of a Watch Winder

From a consumer stand-point, the first impressions are most important. That’s why the aesthetics of a watch winder unit has to be impressive. Manufacturers painstakingly coat the housing with multiple layers of polyurethane (PU) to give it a lustrous glossy finish that reflects your smile on it.




Some manufacturers add inlays to decorate the wooden housing; others use exotic woods to enhance the looks.



From my search in the internet I found that having many layers of PU will not only make the housing glossy but also make it brittle. I’ve seen cracks and peeling happening on a wooden watch box yesterday in one of a Watch outlet. It happened when the seller accidentally hit it against the glass door of his display cabinet when he took it out for me. Once the box cracked at the corner, slowly it began to propagate further from the corner and started to peel-off. That was when I got a chance to peek into its’ under-layers. The wooden box is made of plywood but laminated with a thin “veneer”. This veneer (could be PVC) has motifs of burl wood.



With this technique, I’m sure many cheap watch winders are built in a similar fashion. I don’t think they’ll use genuine wood because they’ll warp in different climates. And once warped, doors may not close properly or gaps may appear on the housing. There’s always moisture content in any wood and if not well kiln-dried, warpage occurs. Only aged genuine wood would not warp. But aged wood is very costly! Perhaps I could use re-cycled wood from a kampong house for my next project.



Another thing about inlays; I’ve seen up-close and personal some room doors that are really not inlayed. They are actually printed decals which are then precisely pasted (molded) onto the door frame made from plywood. These inlays come in sheet form and act much like your temporary tattoos. After transferring onto a selected surface, factories then add layers of lacquer to cover-up traces of these decals. The end result is a glossy, impressive, aesthetically pleasing exterior.



Here are some pictures of decorative films/foils I’ve found on the web.



Take a look at this link to get an idea… http://plus.en.alibaba.com/



So don’t just look at aesthetics when you purchase a winder unit. I feel the most important thing is the product’s quality and its agent’s after-sales service that counts. Looks is after all skin-deep.

Labels: aesthetics of watch winder