Question about mainspring winders

I was thinking about buying a kit but they are quite expensive and I want to buy the “right one”.

I’m just an amateur that has no intention in becoming a professional watchmaker but I find therapeutical dismantling and reassembling such amazing mechanisms as watch movements are 😀

Normally an only touch very inexpensive watches but I after a while doing this as an hobby I find a mainspring winder kit indispensable to do a “proper service” even at a very amateur level.

My questions are: do you need left and right hand winders? Chinese copies should be the place to start? Are there alternatives to Bergeon?

I see lots of kits being sold and I must confess that I’m a bit lost

thank you all in advance

Thank you all for the excellent advices 😀

I will opt by a generic kit and I will search for a vintage one. I guess I can still wait a while. Great advice about flipping the mainspring washer 👍

its also an option to just buy the sizes you will need in bergeon, as unless you are planning on moving to ladies watches many of the smaller barrels arent of much use to you.

It may still prove cost (and space) effective to buy bergeon but only buy the ones you will need, as they can be bought individually. I suggest this as also you eliminate the concerns if quality control from a chinese clone winder at the same time.

Only thing to be careful of on vintage ones is that the hook isn't too worn to catch the spring. Guess how I know?

believe me… I thought about that.
Once again thank you all for your help

I can't get my new cheap set to catch easily, either. If I don't just buy a new spring, I often end up winding the old one in with my (gloved) thumb, keeping pressure on it to keep it from uncoiling. Got my $98 worth, I guess.

always a dilemma how "deep" you want to go w/ winders... I've been served well w/ a set of watch craft "pocket" watch winders for most mens wrist watches... I recently picked up a set of the Watchcraft bracelet winders and laughed when I saw how small they were... i guess in my head they covered a winder range... biggest is 10mm i think... I've used them but sparingly... still a well-bought set of watch craft winders is still much less than Bergeon and there's not much in between. If they don't show the hooks in the ad (remember many eBay sellers just find these in an estate, etc... and post them for sale... they don't *really* know the product) ask for close up pictures of the hooks. After reading reviews I wouldn't get the imported brass winders... always seem to end in failure one way or another.

I will likely upgrade to the Bergeon 2795 (full set of sizes, right hand only) eventually... watching them on eBay and vintage ones are selling for crazy money (more than new from Cousins + shipping + import fees)... I reached out to Jules Borel to see when they'd be back in stock and the reply was "are you sure you want that one? no one's bought/requested that set in 3 years" but they could order it for me... so weighing that decision for the future... but so far no regrets w/ the Watch-Crafts.

as for the right or left wind, the Watch Craft pocket winders are bi-directional... there's not a hook (like an arbor)... more a little rectangular piece to grab the spring so it'll go either . The bracelet winder do have directional hooks. As mentioned above, turning a right hand mainspring into a left hand mainspring only take a properly sized washer...

-Matt

the 6 pack "pocket" watch set would work for that size... i think they run from 15mm to 9.x (don't remember off hand) if i needed one set i'd go for that one and hand install in a pinch. the downside is the arbors are quite large because there's only 2 winder options in the kit and a wide range of barrel sizes...