Federico Talks Watches - Watch Winders - Are They Necessary ? 

I disagree . I have my Breitling Colt quartz on a watch winder and it hasn't stopped running for the past 5 years . ???

I actually enjoy setting my watches when the power reserve has run out... There's also this intangible sentiment of giving my trusty little mechanical friends a well deserved rest in my watch box after a hard month's continuous operation. I think of the automatic mechanism constantly winding the mainspring, the clutch relieving the extra wind, the millions of oscillations of the pallet and balance the countless revolutions of the second hand.... I like to give them a break when I take them out of rotation :)

I just bought a watch winder that winds 4 watches as I keep 4 in rotation at all times. I see many arguments about if it benefits the movement or harms it. The main reason I purchased one was actually so that I wouldn't damage the threading of the screw down crowns by constantly unscrewing and screwing them back in.

I have a couple of low priced winders. One thing I make sure is the motor is made in Japan. They seem to be quieter when operating. I usually let it run during the daytime and turn it off at night. This way whatever automatic watch I want to wear is always ready. Hey it works for me.

I've had my Rolex Oyster Perpetual for 32 years now, never on a winder, used 3 or 4 times a year for a month. Never broke, and normal maintenance. When I put it on, I wind it a little manually and it takes off like a charm. One thingh though, when I wear it I don't take it off to sleep!

Federico Good video man. I bought the cheap $60.00 china made Versa winder on Amazon. (recommended by TGV) and thus far it has been great. I agree with you, to spend alot of money on a winder can go towards the purchase of a new watch! The one i have works great and for $60.00 is a no brainer. Advantage: The watch I choose to leave winding is ready to roll at any given time. Works for me as I rotate my wearing every day. Thanks!

I have one all-purpose, mechanical watch that I love and wear every day. I love to wind it every morning. The winding action is nice and smooth. I love being a one-watch guy.

One consideration. The stem of the watch is one of the most fragile parts, so constantly resetting the watch causes unneeded wear and tear. Also, it keeps the oils from settling if it is not a watch you are wearing on a weekly/monthly basis.

I guess i could live without a winder,but when you have a couple of watches and you just want to pick on up and go to work in the morning it makes life much easier to have a winder. And you can always get a budget winder with a good quality motor.

agreed. not necessary however they're just another accessory for my watches that I personally enjoy looking at and storing. just another way to look at my pieces that gives me personal enjoyment!

Hi Federico, I live in China and bought recently on, space for 4 pcs on a winder, can be set for various intervals, both directions only no variable speed. Works great, is quiet and less than $70. Got it for my birthday from my wife :) Makes life easier if you swap watches a lot.

Federico, I have 5 automatic watches and able to switch them through a double place winder. It works well if you switch watches regularly. I wear a different watch almost everyday. Kinda fun for my sons and grandkids wondering which watch grandpa is wearing today. Even my little 5 year old grandson always checks out my watches. So my 2 cents is a watch winder ( I prefer Wolf ) is a great investment and takes the hassle out of resetting an auto watch that is not worn within the power reserve limits.

Your videos are very well rounded and thought out from not only your perspective but of those whom you have come across in the watch world. As always a pleasure to view your videos and I hope all is well.

My posiiton is that if you're not wearing your watch, you'd might as well allow the movement to rest. Having it constantly running would undoubtedly result in shorter service intervals. But I would agree it comes in handy for watches with complicated movements. I use a watchwinder for my SkX; it's my beater and I like to have it always wound for grabe & go convenience - it's an inexpensive watch so not worried about servicing.

Thousands of $$ on watches, but a winder is too much money.

I started my watch obsession with TGV who Introduced me to you. I actually look forward to your content more nowadays. Keep up the good work my friend.

I just like to display my watches in watch winders and its partially for viewing them and for organizational purposes. I am very happy with Boxy watch winders. I purchased two quads for 300 CDN each on Amazon. They are silent, attractive, variable speeds, directions and I think good value. I had few cheap watch winders and I agree that they are total waste of money. Thanks Federico.

I buy Wolf Cubs on Amazon for about $120 to $150. They rotate 900 times a day; I keep my Rolex and Oris in them (on the same plug). No noise. And Wolf’s customer service is excellent they will even send you a plug to connect 3 Cubs. They will replace broken pieces. Wolf is a German company but they now manufacture in China. Thanks Fredrico.

Great video and advice. Ive been saying the same thing for years on the forums, unless you have an annual calendar or anything else that is a pain in the ass to set you do not need a winder. I don't know anyone in the world that doesn't have 1 minute in a morning to set a watch..........

My Swiss Kubik winder lasts 3 years continuously winding on battery power. You pay the price, but it's convenient to not have to find an outlet. I agree with you, if you have complications, or simply don't want to reset the time. Then a winder is for you. Great video :)

Hi Federico - I agree that watch winders are not necessities but more of a luxury accessory. I've own a couple and sold them not long there after due to the underlying noise at night. I actually enjoy winding my watches myself periodically and it encourages me to alternate more frequently. Cheers!

I have two Mozsly devices to manage the power reserve of 5 quality automatic watches. I tend to rotate the watches according to when they were last worn and by their power reserve. I switch on the winders for around 8-10 hrs a day only when I think necessary (not always the same watch naturally) and they keep all pieces ticking along very nicely. Super quiet, not silly money and very reliable, they can run off the mains, be linked together, or run on two AA batteries if you don't want the hassle of cables and I've found the latter last for over two months when operating them on the standard bi-directional 650TPD setting. They cannot overwind a decent watch - if that was the case and you wear an auto watch daily, it would break in no time. If you are going away for a long time and are not taking all your collection (who does lol), just let the watches wind down, stop and rest. it will do them no harm at all.

I have a single watch winder made by Wolf that has all the variable controls I need. It is very quiet to my ears. I love it, even though I don't use it all the time. I think it is good to let your watches rest once in awhile. Mine is actually a Watch Geeks play toy so I had to have one.

I bought a small single-watch winder from Amazon for my Longines with a Valjoux 7750. Cheap winder, and I guess I got lucky that it winds the right way, never thought that would be an issue! But it's been in the box for longer than the power reserve should last, and it's still running. Winder is nice and quiet too, it's on my nightstand and I don't hear anything unless I'm trying to hear it.

Another great video Federico! Always addressing the questions of watch enthusiasts.

I have to have a winder. First reason is so I can grab the watch and go rather than set the time and wind it as it's stopped in my watch box. The second reason is that I have a 22 year old Submariner which I've owned from new. I let it stop a few years ago and after it kept terrible time but it was due a service. I did it again a few weeks a go and it's not happy again. Keeps decent time on the wrist but on a the winder it runs very fast. Before it was the same on or off the wrist. I've been wearing it all the time lately to see if it runs as well as it used to again.

I completely agree with you, unless you have a perpetual it is not needed at all. The only argument missing here is that by keeping your watch wound all the time you also wear out the movement unessesary...

Hi Federico, I got a free winder together with a watch I bought. It is nice for automatic watches without hand winding. Best regards, Claus

Awesome topic. I want to get a winder just so I don't wear out my screw down crown on my SKX by constantly having to reset the time after not wearing it.

hmmm... I think winders will always be a divisive subject amongst horologists. Managed to join the drop on the Wolf Cub winder on Massdrop. It dropped for a decent price so I decided to find out the low down on winders for myself. So far I've been impressed by how quiet it is. I don't know which one TGV has but I'm hoping that mine will remain that way as the year ticks away. Now I don't have a big collection so this single winder will do me fine as I plan to rotate my watches regularly and using the winder will just top up the mainspring between wears. I think winders are needed more if you have a big collection and can't spare the time to wind your collection regularly. There's not going to a definitive answer regarding the usefulness of winders but lets face it, if you have a massive collection, you can probably spring for a winder or two! Keep up the stellar work Federico! :)

I have also seen claims that you need to keep your watch in a winder because it's bad for the mainspring if it's not fully wound all the time. Tell that to a 100 year old hand wound that still has the original spring :-) What does cause unncecessary wear is overwinding, because that makes the main spring slide on the barrel wall. I will buy an automatic shoelace curler before a watch winder.

Good content Federico! I don't own a perpetual either. For what it's worth, I won't use a winder (some of my friends do and have to replace them fairly regularly). I don't have a problem resting the movement as I cycle my watches and surely part of the joy is setting your piece when you decide which one you are using. But I suppose it's horses for courses. If winders are your thing, wind away. Peace and love

fully agree. put the money on watches not on winders. Cheers

I had one but found I rarely used it. I quite enjoy winding a resetting my watches before wearing them. Great video Frederico:)

Nice vid Frederico. Used winders for quite some time but then I've got the conclusion that it only drives additional wear and tear to the pieces. Prefer to wind my watches on a on-demand basis now, including perpetual calendars.

In my opinion, I feel that they are really relevant for snobs who want many automatics, Great vid as always!!!

What happened between you and TGV Federico? You won't mention him anymore in your recent videos.

Very informative video as usual. Thanks to Federico!

I love my Wolf winder. But I got it free when I bought my new Daytona from my AD. I agree I definitely wouldn’t have forked over the cash to buy it on my own. But I love it for the price point of free and it keeps my Speedmaster Schumacher wound, which is nice because it’s a pain to set the date and day.

Thank you for making this video! I was considering a watch winder but, as you said, the price is what was putting me off.

I have a 4 watch winder, I have 5 automatic watches, the most complicated they get is a day-date which 3 of them have and dknt all manual wind and 2 have screw down crowns, I find it almost a necessity because I am at work for 8-9 hours a day and can't wear all of my watches to work because of what I do, so it makes it a huge inconvenience if they all die and need setting again, but there are so many factors what play into this.

"my good friend TGV" lol

I'm a fan of the watch winder. Just need to allow for date

Federico, I have the same question than another person's comment below. Is a watch winder good for the mechanism or not? thank you.

my experience: used to have a cheap one that around by the fourth year started to make noise and malfunctioning, now I have one since last December which is both winder/storage for 10 pieces and so far has been working flawlessly amd yes in my case it makes sense to have as I rotate my pieces on a daily basis.

Great video and exactly my thoughts Federico :-) I would rather put the money towards my next watch purchase. They are totally unnecessary unless you have an annual calendar or perpetual calendar.

I like a winder for my non-quickset Rolex watches. What a pain in the ass to decide to wear one and then I'd have to crank that sucker to change the date.

If you think a watch winder will allow you to pick it up and wear it without setting it up at all, you are bound for a big surprise. If you don't wear it for a week or so, your watch in the winder will be ticking but surely about a minute or two off.

There's the question of magnetism. The cheap winders have quite a strong magnetic field. This is due to no, or poor shielding in the winder. Depending on the watch, you could have a BIG problem.

I really liked that. The reason why i was watched that was i wanna know excatly what is the best way to keep cronograf watch.

A lot of it depends on your collection and lifestyle. For me, they're ultimately a convenience. Have a couple watches in rotation. Take them off the winder and go about my day.

Clear presentation. Better than most.

Nice video! Can I just fire a few questions? There is a debate about the watch wearing more on a winder (atleast my watchmaker can see in many movements the wear when they have been on winders a long time) is something I think about...would you leave a vintage piece on a winder? The Zenith 410 has many complications but seems to be able to overwind on the winder...which is strange because I thought the vast majority of modern Swiss automatic movements are protected against it. It is on the right programme. My Omega 1012 Geneve doesn't wind on a winder...according to Desmond it might just be a movement for an active wrist.. Another thing I'm not sure about is for example setting the watch everytime you will wear it (especially vintage)...screw out crown, adjust complications etc... then maybe a winder might be better. In the end it doesn't really matter as long as a watch is serviced I guess. ;-)

Great video Federico, thank you for sharing! Your comment about the washing machine made me laugh out loud thinking about one of my friends who ordered a cheaper watch winder online, let's just say his girlfriend didn't let him keep it too long. :) My Father treated me to a WOLF watch winder a couple of Christmases ago , I was sceptical myself and like you thought of it as more of a luxury item. Now though, I wouldn't look back and have been fully converted into a member of the watch winder club! :)

watch winders are great for watches like Seiko skx because you can't manually wind them, and you can't expect to shake them till they fully top up their power reserve. That is, if you have 4 or more watches, and you rotate between them. One thing I am abit worried about is, does the motors in some watch winders have magnetic fields? Especially the cheap ones. some electric motors tend to have magnetic fields in them right?

can’t agree more. i am waiting a solar powered winder to debut before i will consider buying one

Only time you really need a winder is if you have multiple complications that take way too much time to set.

Thank you I was just wondering this question today. I am in the market for my first Rolex probably sometime in the Christmas time frame and was thinking if I needed a winder or not.

My watch winder is my thumb and index finger. :D

There is nothing more beautiful than a Casio watch , you can use it to drive a nail into concrete and it works perfectly , forgot it on a drawer by a couple of years and when you picked it up , it's still running way more accurate than the most expensive Lange & Sonne , Jaeger Le Coultre , Breguet or Patek Phillipe .

Informative video as always. Good job!

nice to see your subs creeping up. keep up the good work.

I need one for my Seiko 7S26 automatic. There is NO manual wind option. Even if I shake it for 10 minutes in the morning, it will stop on my wrist if i stop to read the paper, or drive my car. Takes 3 days of wearing to power up the reserve.

I would think keeping a watch that you wear at least once a Month in a winder just to keep the lubrication oils moving. Kind of like running a car reguarly once a month or two to keep oil in motion, seals wet,and even things like the crankshaft from sagging. If you are a watch guy you prob dont need one because you handle the watch enough anyway Like me. When my friends ask me why i always wear two watches, i reply, because i only have two arms...

They are necessary if you have lots of your recommended seiko skx watches. I have aSeiko 4r39a watch, a Vostok Amphibia and an Orient Bambino V4. All are handwindable. I would never buy a watch with a date function that does not handwind.

Hi Frederico can you tell me where to look up which winder direction setting to use for which watch? My watches are using ETA 2824 ETA 2893-2 9R66 4R35 MT506 H10

I have no mechanical watches that have complications that require them to be kept running (moon phase etc), so I would not buy a winder. I rotate mine enough so that they all get used at least once a month or so and enjoy setting the time on them when I kick them over.

Nah, I just tie my watches to the wheels of my car.

Wolf is also made in China, in Guangzhou near Hong Kong border to be precise,

The downside of getting a perpetual calendar is that quite a few of them are manual wind :p I'd really like the JLC 8 day one...

I own a cheap winder. I is noisy. But it works. It allows me to turn my wrist watch into a desk clock. So to me it's worth paying 80 for. Remember that I'm the crazy clock guy.

I just bought the Orient Bambino Version 4. My first Automatic watch. I'm a little confused about things. When the crown is all the way in, that is how you wind it correct? As long as I wind that every day the watch should not stop, correct? I know very basic questions, sorry.

Got my JQueen 4 bay winder 9 bay watch holder (13 bays total) and have not looked back worth every penny no more having my autos die

Well, a couple of my watches have 1 annoying complication. (and I do get ofcourse the multiple complications headache).A non quick date set ! Would that qualify as a reason to have them on a winder during my watch rotation ?

Hey there Frederico I have recently acquired a beautiful 2016 tag aquaracer calibre 5 automatic, being a newbie to the automatic side of the watch industry I asked my local dealer if I should get a watch winder as I only wear my watches on the weekends due to the nature of my job, he recommended I do as I may damage my watch by not wearing it as often as I should as the oil in the watch collects over time sort of how your car's oil drains off the parts into the sump if you leave it parked for a really long time. Should I take his advice or do you think my watch is safe keeping it in its case with the occasional day out now and then? Thumbs up 👍Great video ☺Keep up the great work 👍

Hi Federico and all, I was just considering an SKX for a beater weekend watch. Do I buy a winder to keep it wound for the weekend, or do I just buy a nice watch that hand winds? I'm open to suggestions.

I expected to hear a clear answer to the question: is a winder better for the mechanism of the watch or not!

Thanks for your input

What's the best wY to store the watches then? Pull the pin or leave it?

For me setting a Rolex GST Master 11 with its complex hands would be a pain. Am I right?

A small investment compared to the overall investment of all of your watches ...... 👊🇺🇸😎

Hi Federico . Any thoughts on the Hublot Big Bang Unico ? Has Hublot come up with a decent / good movement? Looks will always be a matter of opinion. Thanks

Was considering a watch winder since I alternate my Sistem51 and SKX and its a pain to set each time (since Im a bit OC on the date). But considering that the Sistem51 isn't serviceable I'm afraid of running it's expected maximum mileage early. Your thoughts? I definitely have no plans of putting on my luxury watch though.

well said imo watch winder are waste of time cause not every month ends in 31?

Hi Frederico thanks for your input, it was interesting. I have an economically priced Floureon 4 watch dual winder, it has wood grain finish dual direction winding and it is whisper quiet. (at a budget price special of $59.99 AUD). I like it because I change my watches frequently and they are always wound.Currently I have four automatics and five quartz watches at the budget price point of $500 to $1000 rrp. So after shopping around for deals, they are not expensive pieces so the winder is more for convenience. I have a question for you or whoever can answer it. At present I run my winder for 12 hours per day, usually at the times my solar panels are operating; this seems to keep 3 of my watches running with perfect time; but not the fourth. All have Miyota or seiko movements. Would you think that this fourth watch is faulty or in your experience can different movement models require more time to wind than others of the same calibreBest Regards Jeff

Or you could have a MIT grad and mechanical engineer nephew who happens to works(okay just started working, but he is scary smart..like mad scientist smart ) for SpaceX build you one out of Falcon X parts.

Thanks for the video, you've just saved me £200!!

Thank you Federico, for possibly saving me money and TIME.⌚⌚⌚⌚⌚ five watch star's👏🖖

Hi this may sound strange but what glasses are you wearing? Thanks!

agree....i don't think you don't need a winder ....=) neither would I spend money on it, rather on watches =)

Federico. You seem to be a movie aficionardo. What is the exact watch that Patrick Bateman wears in AMERICAN PSYCHO? It is a Datejust two-tone, probably 16233, with a white dial. But even on Blu-ray I can't make out what the hour markers are...possibly they are gold Romans. On social media I've asked the production designer Gideon Ponte, the director Mary Harmon, and the costume designer, but have received no answers yet. I asked on Rolex Forum but the post never got uploaded! Thanks.

Does anyone can tell me which beand makes a better winder, Modalo or Lukdof?

Federico, I’ve always had winders. Much better to be wound then unwound. Cheap winders don’t last. Orbita winders last forever and yes the have a battery model that only needs a battery every 5 Year’s. I couldn’t stand a pile of dead watches.

Hi, did you really say you wind your watches only once a month?????? Who needs an automatic then ? Please tell me...

thank you Federico, my problem is I can't get a definitive answer on whether winders can wind a high end Seiko Kinetic from around 2003, any idea, thank again

Nice intro music. Oddly enough you and another channel named "firebat" (a channel where a player plays a game called hearthstone) has the same music for his outro.

I dont like winders. I feel it wears out the internals of the watch quicker. Rather use all my watches at least once a month. I would buy a vintage old new stock over a used vintage watch for that exact reason.

Woah! one away form 6K subs! Nice!

I bought a watch winder at an antique market for 10 bucks a few years back because it was a great deal and the seller didn't know what it was. Wonderful unit but after six months, I don't really use it much. Most of my watches are automatic.

Off topic New watch posters on your wall... Can you talk about them in the next vid?