# How to pick and operate a Watch Winder correctly...(tips and tricks)



## Mystro

A watch winder is a great way of keeping your automatic watch wound and keeping the main spring at optimal performance. I have been using a Orbita Belino watch winder for over 11 years now on my Rolex Serti Sub. My Rolex has been either on my wrist or in the winder for its entire 11 year life. My Rolex keeps the same +3 seconds a day today as it did when new and the watch has never been opened up. So you could say I am a advocate for using a* good *watch winder set at its *proper* setting.

Not all watch winders are the same quality. Poorly made watch winders have been shown to magnetize the watches main spring over time. You will not be happy if that happens. Stick with a quality brand winder like Orbita, Wolf, etc... You can find a great single winder from these companies for under $300.00 dollars. Consider it a investment for your much more expensive automatic watch.

Most watches we all have like Omega Rolex,etc,... are best suited for a bi directional winder that is programmable for the amount of turns per day. Bi directional means that every time the winder cycles on, it turns in a different direction. Turns Per Day is how many full revolutions the winder turns in a 24 hour period. The magic number of TPD for most watches like a Submariner or Planet Ocean is about 650TPD.

Another side benefit of a watch winder is its effectiveness in showing any issues in a new watch. Best to find out if your movement is in 100% working order when new and under warranty. A winder will exercise the movement much more effectively to show any defects in the movement like stoppage issues or accuracy problems.

Most people dont understand how to use a watch winder correctly, I didnt at first.

_*If set correctly*_, a winder will keep the main spring exactly wound at the point when you put it in the winder. It will not "wind-up" the watch if set correctly to the watches specific TPD setting. I repeat...._* "It will not "wind-up" the watch if set correctly."
*_
Many people do not understand this point. If you have your winder set at 650TPD and put a watch that is not fully wound in it for a few days. When you remove the watch from the winder, the watch will NOT be fully wound. The best way to use a watch winder for long periods of time is to manually wind the watch up first, then place the watch in the winder. If you do it this way for daily or long turn use, you will never have to touch your crown. Your watch will come off of the winder and on to your wrist at its optimal main spring tension. At the end of the day, take your watch off and place it on the winder and it should be right where you left it the next morning. I have done this for 11 years with the same watch and its accuracy and reliability has been flawless.

The mistake many watch owners do is set their winders Turn Per Day too high. Sure it will wind your watch up but it will also have your internal clutch slipping every time the watch winder is activated....*Bad Idea. *You want your watch running at the top 3/4 of its main spring all the time either on your wrist or in the winder. This will not cause any needless wear on the clutch.

Thats pretty much it. Buy a good winder now and it and your watch should last a long time.


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## KatGirl

Thanks, Mystro. Very informative. I have a "Rocket Red Box" quad winder ( Two doubles, side by side, in one box) It has 3 settings: clockwise, counterclockwise, and Bidirectional, and separate switches for each side. I can't set the TPD, but the setting I use (Bidirectional) is preset to provide 672 TPD, so....I guess I'm good. One thing I've never been able to figure out is, exactly what makes a watch winder a "quality" watch winder? I know with mine, the cost is mainly in the _real wood_ used in the box itself:








KAT


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## mt1tdi

I got an Orbita Siena 3 winder in Dec 2010. Love the winder but I have an issue and will eventually get to having it serviced. After I bought the winder I decided to get my SMP1200. I emailed Orbita beforehand and was assured that the winder could handle it. About a month or so ago I noticed the winder was rotating slower on the spindle where I always wind the Ploprof and only the Ploprof. Heavy watches are ok, but having the weight off center is not a good thing. I'm not sure how quality is determined with these things. I think a large watch would require a winder that could rotate a watch as close to 90degrees as possible but allowing the rotor to spin. The regular 45 degree orientation puts too much strain


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## Mystro

Quality watch winders have a shielded motor that will not let its copper spool transfer a magnetic field to your watch . Quiet is another tip off. Quiet is subjective but generally the motor shouldn't grind or whine when operating. A good winder should last 20 years easily. Most inexpensive winders are generically preprogrammed for around 650 TPD. This is the most common setting and works on most main stream watches. If you have a Rolex Daytona or other chronograph, they typically require at least 750 TPD to keep them fully wound.

This is a outstanding winder and one I will buy next for my next watch. The features and price are outstanding...

WolfDesigns - Products - VICEROY 2.7 Single Watch Winder w/cover









I have this Orbita Bellino winder for the past 11 years and it is excellent but more money than the Wolf.
Orbita - Programmable 1 Bellino


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## mt1tdi

This is the one I have..

Orbita - Programmable 3 Siena


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## stndrdtime

What about the Orbita "Rotowind" winders? Are they any better or worse than the tradtional rotationaly winders? As I understand it, the Rotowind swings the watch in a pendulum motion.


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## Mystro

I personally don't care for the swinging type winders. I talked to Orbita about them and I dont care for the swing concept. You can buy the Wolf for about the same money.


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## T-Mack

great info, thanks !!!


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## modyblu

I have the Landmark watch winder. I thought about the Orbit but; I did not like the fact it was battery operated, and only can be replaced through them. The Landmark is AC/DC. and can be programed to wind 450-650-850, clockwise-counter clockwise, or bidirectional. I just put my watch in there and it will run program every 24 hours until I take it out. The winder for the price and warranty is a very good bargain.
Watch Winder Store Single Watch Winder Burlwood


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## SUSHISUMMO

Mystro,

First thanks for a great info on winder.

I have a question. You mention that you need to manually wind them before putting it on a winder. Do you mean fully wind them (40-50 turns) before putting on a winder? or just get it started and then put it on a winder?

I just bought a Boxy watch winder system. Do you know anything about them? Good or Bad?

Thanks a bunch.


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## joeuk

you need to wind it up a bit because a cycle could be every 3 hours


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## ChronoScot

SUSHISUMMO said:


> Mystro,
> 
> First thanks for a great info on winder.
> 
> I have a question. You mention that you need to manually wind them before putting it on a winder. Do you mean fully wind them (40-50 turns) before putting on a winder? or just get it started and then put it on a winder?
> 
> I just bought a Boxy watch winder system. Do you know anything about them? Good or Bad?
> 
> Thanks a bunch.


Winders are designed to retain the winding level (on average over the course of the day) and not to wind-up watches.

The cycle of (depending on the model) around 2 hours of non-rotation followed by some minutes of rotation, amounting to 600 - 800 turns per day, is intended to allow the watch to unwind while running and then be wound back up to a similar level. The theory is that this better mimmicks the natural movement of the wrist than continual winding.

Thus, your watch should be wound manually (or by wearing) to ideally around half of the power reserve or more.


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## imranbecks

Don't need a winder... I still prefer the old fashioned way of winding the crown to set the time and then give the watch a few motions here and there, and I'm good to go!!!


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## richardew

I bought one from Brookstone. It is programmable from 650 TPD to 3600 TPD. It will turn CW or CCW or bidirectional. It is quiet. It was also relatively inexpensive. I have my 2 automatic watches on the winder and I am very happy with its' performance. I just checked my watches. The Louis Brandt felt a bit tight @1150 TPD bidirectional, so I turned it back to 785. It was off 2 minutes and I don't remember the last time I set it. That watch came with a Omega winder. It was a swinging type winder and it did not keep the watch wound fully. I was always adjusting the time on the watch and winding it some manually anytime I wore it, and on occasion the watch actually stopped while on the winder. My speedy auto/date was off less than 30 seconds, and I also don't remember the last time I set the time. I also turned it back from 1150 TPD bi to 785 TPD bi.


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## tigerpac

I've have a 'swinging' type Orbita that's been doing a great job - plus 5 year charge on the batteries!


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## Mystro

For optimal results and keeping your watch in the accuracy zone, wind up the watch fully and then place it in the winder. The ideal situation is to wear your watch every day and at night put it in the winder. You will never have to touch the crown of your watch again. A winder set properly freezes the watches main spring in the exact place it is when putting in the winder.


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## joeuk

I bought the cheapest piece of crap, Time Tutelary but does the job, cant set a program in but does go both ways left my smp for week and does the job only cost me £20, its quiet enough for me, its 2yrs old and still running.


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## SC-Texas

I have a 1950s omega seamaster with the bumper movement.

what auto winder is most compatible?! 
What direction should the turns be?

how many turns per day?


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## SC-Texas

I had to fix my typing.


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## Alex_TA

I use Wolf Viceroy module 2.7.

When I wear a watch and going to wear it next day I do not put it on winder. It's waiting on the shelf. I put it on only when I'm going to leave it there for several days.

Wolf 2.7 has a possibility to program not only TPD and direction but delay too. So when I wear a watch for work hours and put it on the winder for weekend for example, I am setting 24 hours delay and 1,000 TPD for 9300/8500 movements. 

I do not fear of over winding. It's the same like very active day with a lot of wrist movement. And after the delay the mainspring is partially freed.

This way I never wind my watches manually at all.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## WatchUDoing

Does anyone know if the Brookstone winders are shielded? What would some symptoms of a magnetized movement be?


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## Darwin

WatchUDoing said:


> Does anyone know if the Brookstone winders are shielded? What would some symptoms of a magnetized movement be?


Can't answer the first question, but a magnetized watch will gain or lose a LOT (I had a magnetized watch that gained 10 minutes an hour).


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## WatchUDoing

Well, would it be a safe assumption that my Brookstone winder is safe to use? I got it as a gift 2 years ago, and my SMP is still running at +3/day.


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## Gusk

I just got this one..I hope it's good enough 
*Diplomat Black Carbon Fiber Pattern 4+16 Watch Automatic Winder Box*


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## Red PeeKay

Mystro said:


> Most people dont understand how to use a watch winder correctly, I didnt at first.
> 
> _*If set correctly*_, a winder will keep the main spring exactly wound at the point when you put it in the winder. It will not "wind-up" the watch if set correctly to the watches specific TPD setting. I repeat...._* "It will not "wind-up" the watch if set correctly."*_


Thanks Mystro, just a query that I've posted elsewhere a while back and which hasn't been resolved. With uni-directional movements, such as the Miyota 8215 (turn direction CCW) and the Miyota 9015 (turn direction CW) from which side of the watch is the direction referenced. For the 9015, is the clockwise when looking at the dial, or when looking at the caseback. If it's when looking at the caseback, then in fact one would set it to CCW when looking at the dial. I ask because the watch sits dial facing out on the watchwinder. I've read conflicting advice and would like to clear this up. Thanks.


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