I’m after some advice on the use of watch winders. I have 4 automatic seamasters that I wear on rotate and leave those I’m not wearing on a winder. I recently visited an independent watchmaker who advised that this wasn’t a good idea as it will wear the parts out quicker. The advice was to just let them wind down and then wind up when I change over. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

While I am not an expert, nor profess any expertise, I have read/heard the same caution against leaving a watch on a winder. Most of the commentary warned against long-term usage of watch winders due to the specific and repetitive path that the watch will travel, putting the watch in the exact same position time and time again. This would lead to concentrated wear on specific parts of the movement. Haven't read anything specific to the length of time it would take, but the logic of the mechanics being described were consistent from author to author and seemed sound.

Personally, I will try to remember to wind mine if they've gone more than a day without wearing. I've also read that letting them sit wound down for extending periods of time (talking months/years most likely) could lead to the lubricants at the contact points congealing.

Basically, these beauties are meant to be worn and enjoyed with regularity, not sitting in cases!

 

I use a winder, I also rotate through my watches fairly often, rarely wearing one more than a couple of days in a row. I've now taken to turning the winder off in the evening to reduce wear. I let my vintage piece remain unwound.

 

I use a single one-watch winder since I rotate almost daily between just two watches. It's just so darn covenant not to have to wind/adjust whenever I want to change my watch. If I go away and take just one watch, as I usually do, I pull the other one off the winder or unplug the winder, letting the unworn piece simply wind down and stop.

I bought a simple and inexpensive ($50) Versa Winder on Amazon. It's quiet, small, and works great.

 

Al Archer had some great posts about this, and showed the difference in wear. Long story short, yes, there is more wear. Whether you care or plan to flip your watches before that becomes a issue is up to you.

 

The components in many watches that have the potential to wear most rapidly if a watch is continually run on a watch winder, are the parts of the watch that are most likely not equipped with jewelled bearings. Depends on the watch which parts aren’t protected by jewelled bearings. Mainspring barrels at the barrel arbor generaaly aren’t jewelled. Barrel arbor bearings in the plates, aren’t always jewelled. Center wheel arbors may not be jewelled. Mainspring bridles are constantly slipping inside the mainspring barrel walls. The tiny pivots in the automatic winding system work very hard if the watch is kept on a winder. And even if jewelled, those pivots wear out. In order to protect those susceptible bearings, the watch should be serviced regularly. Many modern automatics wind only one way, and if your winder turns the wrong way, the watch won’t wind. In short, watchmakers need the work. Go ahead and use a watch winder.

 

Then don't ever wear your watches either, let them sit in a drawer.

Who knows what could happen to all those delicate arbors and bearings when they are submitted to the erratic moves of your wrist!

 

Decent watch winders will typically not wind continuously, but rather in (customisable) intervals, e.g. turning clockwise for a minute, not turning for half an hour or so, then counterclockwise (depending on the caliber), then not turning again, and so on.

I imagine (though don’t strictly *know*) that this wouldn’t have a substantially different effect on your watch from simply wearing it all the time, which is what most people who own one automatic watch do anyway. Again, I could be wrong.

Personally I don’t like watch winders as they take away the simple pleasure of winding and setting my watch, but they have their purposes. Bought one for my dad recently, who has an automatic that can’t be handwound and (due to his physical condition) regularly doesn’t move enough for it to get the required turns per day to stay wound. He now puts it in the winder at night - perfect solution.

 

i do not use auto winder and have never tried even once.

 

The OP asked for suggestions, and this answer was the best you could do? Quite a start for a newbie to this MB. Tell us what you REALLY think!

 

Orbita makes great winders and has an excellent settings database. If you are going to do this then get one that is super programmable.

 

Agreed.

Me thinks we need to request a 'DISLIKE' button thumbsdown from our mods...

 

For your reading pleasure:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-winder-do-i-need-it.53061/

https:/https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-winder-or-not.41781/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/is-it-necessary-to-have-a-watch-winder.20330/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-winders-are-they-any-must-haves-or-caution-brands.18673
https://omegaforums.net/threads/what-do-i-need-to-know-to-buy-a-winder.14998
https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-winder.18017

 

Thanks for all your suggestions and the links to previous threads, it’s much appreciated.

 

A few serious questions on this topic.
Given that using a watch winder will increase wear on certain parts of the movement, does that increase in wear mean the watch will require a service more frequently than is recommended by the manufacturer?
If one has a watch serviced at the recommended intervals, does it matter whether the watch had been left periodically on a winder as part of a rotation with other watches?
When a watch is serviced, can the watchmaker tell upon inspection of the movement that it had spent significant time on a winder?

I have been using a winder for quite a while with the few automatics that I own, and so far as I can tell, no issues. But none of the watches are on the winder for more than a few days, as I rotate them frequently.

Mike

 

Maybe we should have a poll on the use of watch winders? Perhaps you should use the SEARCH function to read up on the great variety of opinions on them. If having to wind and set a watch before you put it on is a bother to you, then avoid manual winders, or pocket watches. If a watch is kept running all the time, or most of the time, in order to avoid wear to movement parts, service intervals should be shorter. Can a watchmaker identify worn parts? Yes! Will he know the wear is because you run it on a winder? Yes! But only if you tell him.

 

Can a watchmaker identify worn parts? I would certainly hope so.

Will he know the wear is because you run it on a winder? Yes! But only if you tell him. So he can't tell the wear is because I run it on a winder. Unless I tell him.

 

Why do you consider how the worn parts became worn as being important, whether on a wrist, or on a winder. A worn part is a worn part!

 

I don't consider it important. That's my point. This discussion is about worn movement parts from a watch being on a watch winder or on a wrist. As far as I can make out, it doesn't matter. So why all the angst about using a winder? Whether a watch is worn on the wrist every day, or on a watch winder, the movement parts will exhibit wear.

 

I’ll try to restrain myself from trying to answer any more “serious questions” on this topic.