# Will this winder damage my watch?



## calvincc (Jan 15, 2012)

I am thinking of getting this winder. I am totally new to automatic watches and winders. What are the pros and cons of this winder?

Updated: I found this winder that does not rotate continuously. Is it any good? Thanks.


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## Doctorsti (Sep 30, 2008)

I would go with a winder like Wolf that has built in rest periods so as no not continually overwind.


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## MikeCfromLI (Jan 6, 2012)

Alot of ppl go wolf or brookstone a plus of brookstone is you can go see it in the mall, mine has been silent and trouble free i see allot of bad reviews of the cheap ones on amazon (both failures and finish)

Automatic Watch Winders at Brookstone


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## Doctorsti (Sep 30, 2008)

my wolf is literally silent and I just posted my stance on winders in my thread on the dive watch forum:

I've done a lot of reading on opinions of winders and while there is a lot of hate going on I think my opinion rests at "go with a winder that has built in rest time and only use it for watches you are currently wearing in rotation" 

I have found that the 8L35 from Seiko requires bidirectional winding from 650-800 (MM300), ETA 2824 is also bidirectional at 650 (U1, Puck), Valjoux 7750 variants require clockwise at 800 TPD (Sinn U1000S & 358), and Rolex 116610LN requires bidirectional at 650 (Sub-C). My winder is 600 TPD so based on this I'm assuming this winder should not overwind any of them and that if I wear one a week or occasionally turn one of two off if they are out of rotation I should be safe right?

I have also read that the Seiko Spring Drive should not be on a winder at all but honestly this makes no sense to me. If I were to wear it daily for months to years at a time I would be keeping the reserve at it's top level and likely overwinding it causing the clutch to have to work more then if it was on my winder.

Module 2.0 info
What is the rotation program for the module 2.0?
The module 2.0 rotates for 6 hours (150 turns per cycle, 4 cycles per day) and has an 18 hour “sleep phase”. Rotates in either clockwise counterclockwise or bi-directional.

What is the rationale on the 12 hour start delay?
The rationale for the 12 hour start delay is to provide the ability for a watch which as been recently worn and consequently has a tensioned mainspring, the opportunity to release the stored energy within the mainspring.

With this info I am going to surmise it will likely wind the watch less then I would by wearing it. How can this be so bad if I plan on pulling one out every few days to wear for a day. I will put it back and set it to the 12 hour delay. I can't imagine how this could be bad and it limits the amount of wear on the crown and hand winding mechanisms as for most of them I will only need to hack the seconds once a week to get it back to reasonably accurate time. 

Anyone here have any other input on the matter? No need for the "leaving your car running" analogy as this is clearly not what this winder does. If I bought an Ebay winder and put my Rolex on it I could see some negative posts but this winder allows the watch to rest for 18 hours and then winds it for 6 hours. I would wind the watch far more on my wrist so if anything the watches will slowly lose power reserve time on the winder but the one day or so a week I wear one will bring it back to full reserve. Did I need an 8 watch winder, nope but at the price I paid with some bonus bucks I had I ended up paying less then 18% of the MSRP of $2750. 

We'll see if I really find it useful over the next few months but I didn't really have much to lose on it my mornings are often hectic with getting the kids ready and myself ready for work so it's nice to just yank out whichever watch I feel like wearing that day and not having to worry about pulling the crown, hand winding 15-20 turns, setting the time to noon so I can use the quick set date, then going to my Atomic G-Shock and syncing up the time all in the dark while the wife sleeps. I have run into the "problem" of just wearing one or two alternating watches as I simply don't have the time to run through this ritual in the morning so now I get to enjoy all 7-8 of my final consolidated collection. Win win as I see it.

Oh I do have one question for the "winder haters" and that's how does winding a watch for 1/4 of the day with 4 rest periods one of them being 18 hours damage or overwind a watch. That would be like starting your car driving to work turning it off, driving it to lunch turning it off, driving it back from lunch turning it off, and driving it home and turning it off for the night, right? Not being a mechanic I am guessing this is slightly better then driving your car a 1000 miles then turning it off for a month and then driving it for 1000 miles, etc... 

Sorry for the rant but after reading dozens and dozens of threads on multiple fora about winders it seems winders are definitely a love it or hate it object with a lot of misinformation swirling about. A an auto watch is for wearing is it not?


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## omeglycine (Jan 21, 2011)

Another vote for Brookstone. I have a 4 watch winder from them and it's truly terrific for $200.


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## lphin1983 (Feb 11, 2012)

wow, so many watches.


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