I am curious if anyone can recommend a mechanical watch winder for automatic wristwatches? I have two such watches now and unless I wear them both at the same time, one or the other runs down and it's a pain to keep resetting, especially the dating part.

I see them listed on eBay, but prices are all over the board. Don't want to waste money on external frills, just want a quality winder that will keep my watches ready to go...whichever I decide to wear that day.

Appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

cheers,
Roger

Good question Roger have same problem here

Do you have a cat or small dog?

Let them wear it when not on your hand.

Makes for a nice collar.

Marty

Martin, I do have a young golden retriever I could strap a watch to, but he is so energetic he might overwind it (or eat it if he could get it off).

Roger:

Sorry that I could not help you, but appreciate your sense of humor.

One of those frankfurter dogs (daschundt) would be just right.

Marty

Roger, After having a very high priced single watch winder that didn't last very long and was noisy but was very attractive, I purchased one of these with the idea if it was lousy I hadn't lost much. It turns out to be a very good winder for one watch. I would recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/Diplomat...id=1333681652&sr=8-1

I have heard discussions sugggesting that the winders cause excessive wear, and should not be used. What is the opinions of the members of this club?

most watches have reserve so you should not have
to use the winder 24/7 few hours a day
should be ok.

Well, made a decision and got the kissing cousin to the Diplomat winder suggested above. Purchased an inexpensive Belocia double winder from Amazon for $52 delivered. It is absolutely quiet and seems to rotate two watches effortlessly.

BUT, now I have a another question:

How does one determine the correct Turns Per Day (TPD) for a given watch?

Winder has the following settings:
A- Rotates 33 seconds, rests 12 minutes = 342 TPD
B- Rotates 10 minutes, rests for 90 minutes = 864 TPD
C- Rotates 30 minutes, rests for 3 hours = 1080 TPD
D- Rotates 60 minutes, rests for 3 hours = 2160 TPD

To further complicate things, a switch will permit changing the direction of rotation:
-clockwise rotation
-counterclockwise rotation
-alternating between the two.

At the moment I only own two automatic wind watches, a Sieko 5 and a Sea-Gull M171S.

Any advice on which of the A,B,C,D settings make sense and which option for direction of rotation? Whatever the answer is, hopefully it can be applied to BOTH these watches simultaneously, because I expect to place them in the winder together.

Seems a silly thing to worry about given the vagaries of wrist movement and exercise we all do during a day, but I just don't want to overdue things and possibly cause watch damage if that is possible.

Thanks for your help,
Roger

Roger:

I'm far from an expert on self-winding watches but allow me to throw another variable into the pot.

As far as I know there are 2 types of mechanisms that do the winding inside, the one where the weight makes a full rotation, and the other called a 'bumper' where the winding weight only rotates about 180 degrees, and then back.

I believe that the 'bumper' models should not be wound in the auto-winder the same way as the full circle models.....but that's only what I have heard.

Perhaps it would be best to contact the manufacturers and seek their advice about auto winders.

Marty

I will go with "B" as a owner of more them few
automatics not bumpers.
But you can always check if the setings are sufficient to make the watch runs 24/7 if not goes to next setting "C"
Ps Roger let me know how you like the winder and send me the name and model # I need one as I alter my watches every day to keep them going

Thanks guys, given a private message and your inputs, I have opted to go with setting "B" and alternating directions. This gives 864 turns per day, half of them clockwise, half counterclockwise.

I will update on my level of satisfaction after a month or two of usage. After 24 hours I am pleased with how quiet it is and how it cycles on and off the prescribed rotate/rest intervals (yes, I monitored a couple of cycles!). It is virtually silent from a couple of feet away.

Peter, you asked what model it is...specifically it is the Belocia Double Automatic Watch Winder and I found it for $53 delivered from Amazon (April 2012). Hard to beat. I think it is the same unit sold as the Diplomat, but I read a number of good reviews on Amazon for this one, so went with it. It has two adapters that snap on the watch mounts to give more bulk if needed for larger/bigger banded watches. I used those for both my Sea-Gull and Seiko and they held nice and snug with a spring tension feature inside the watch mount that keeps slight pressure on them. If I get 2 years use out of this winder I will be happy...heck, by then I hope to need a larger one!

Thanks Roger, can't wait for update.
I have 5 autos and hate to change date and day on it
every time I feel like to ware the watch.