Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Having been a sponge on the forums for a good month, I thought it was time to try and give something back. Herein follows my humble review of the "new" 8 watch winder available from Anthony at Acetimer.com. It is new to Acetimer, touted as having "new improved" motors. This is the third item I have bought from Anthony, always with excellent communication, shipping, etc.......... Anywho, on with the pictures already! Item cost is $199, a no brainer for me, as the 4 watch winder was $149, and who can only live with 4 automatic watches? Shipping was UPS with provided tracking number, arrived in 5 days. UPS had the shipping weight as 25 lbs......., that's gotta be a mistake...........nope. Large box in front of the door when I got home, out to the back deck before I lose all my light tonight......... So triple boxed with care, extra stryofoam padding. Watch winder in a cotton cloth bag with silk rope tied closed. I can't imagine how it could have been packaged any better. Accesories include 0.4 amp AC adapter, instructions, euro 220v adapter for our EU friends, jewelers cloth............ First Impressions are very good. The latch hinges hold the cover open with dual "clicks". The suede lining is smooth and clean. The watch holders fit snuggly. There are no cracks in the finish. The winding turntables are deep. There are about 6 drying packs in the case itself, and it was bone dry. Must be a long wet trip on that container ship Many of the hairline scratches you see in the pictures of the back were only visible under specific lighting conditions. I'm quite sure they will come out with some furniture polish and elbow grease. The fuzzy logic controls adjustable for numbers of turns per day, each turn taking a gentile 6 seconds for rotation. There is no adjustment for direction. I took issue with the size of the suede watch holders in my first winder. Too big for my 7 1/8 wrist adjusted timepieces. Had to rip them apart and resew some stuff (thanks honey!) to make them work. On this piece, all 18 holders come in the ridgid 8 inch plus size, but take off the outer ring, and you are closer to 7 inches. Thanks to my oldest daughter for holding the measuring tape.......... If you would like to take this piece on vacation, or lose power, it has the ability to run on 4 D batteries. If you take need an 8 watch winder on vacation, please e-mail me, I will come along as your vacation servant, I don't even need a suite........ So now it's time to pick up this beast and bring it inside for a teardown................that's right, I'm gonna crack it open, and see what kind of movements we have in there! Dun be a Pug, what else would you expect a good RWG'er to do! This thing is very solid. Let's throw her on the scale, and get out the screwdrivers and linoleum knives............ So there are 4 motors, they have no markings, so very difficult to trace their quality. They are held in with solid hardware, and rubber washers, which might help with sound/vibration insulation. The wires are small guage, similar to something you might find in remote control car engine. I am no electrician, but no bare wires, no shotty electrical tape. Other board members with more experience feel that they are quite adequate for the low amperage in question. Copious amounts of hot glue hold the inputs in their particle board recepticles, a bit of a messy job, but at least they didn't cheat us on the hot glue So lets close her up already, load up the 8 heaviest watches I own, and run a decibel check on the Rat Shack sound meter. Lets see how quiet "very quiet" really is. We shut down the computers and the heating system, put the dog in his crate, send the kids up to clean their rooms, turn on the new toy, shut the top, and...............it doesn't register on the meter. Sure, the meter only goes down to 60 db, but that's all I have on hand In this very quiet environment, I can not hear these "new" motors until my head is about 2 feet away from the unit. This will work just fine on my bedroom bureau........if it fits. Did I mention this thing is a beast? Measurement are 24" long, 10.5" deep, 8" talll in back, 3.5" tall in front, and of course, it needs a few more inches of clearance to open up the lid fully! It makes my old winder look just puny The Good: Good dealer reputation Fast shipping, excellent packaging Fair price Heavy build 4 motors Plexiglass see through case Generally good materials Solid hardware Dual latch hinges with posilock Cherry or Burl finish choices Adjustable watch holder sizes Deep winder turntables Programable winds per day AC/DC and 220 V power Very quiet running under load Room for 18 watches The Bad: Two watches per motor Some sloppy Hot Glue near circuit board Some veneer imperfections, only on back Large size, needs clearance to open No specific room for strap storage Room for 18 watches (gonna be some $$$ to fill this beast) Thanks for everything you guys have taught me about reps, gens, and watch collecting in general. Respectfully, Blackrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hank7502 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I have the same one. It's great. You will love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Great post, and a much needed break from the tension.... Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Great post, and a much needed break from the tension.... Thanks a bunch! Aye. When all the dust settles, we're still going to need to wind and store our watches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadog13 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 great review... ....great WW...and now just have to find $$$ for this beauty...I just have to see what shipping cost will the seller charge me for delivering to EU...and BTW, great pics.... this is for "hardcore collectors"....and now you have to fill it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 100% TOP NOTCH REVIEW that was the best review of a watch box i have seen on the forums - Great Job. Question, do you have 45mm watches? is that PO 45? The problem i always find with watch boxes is my large watches, PAM PO BCE - don't sit well next to each other, they touch. Can you comment? oh, and very nice kitchen you have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 100% TOP NOTCH REVIEW that was the best review of a watch box i have seen on the forums - Great Job. Question, do you have 45mm watches? is that PO 45? The problem i always find with watch boxes is my large watches, PAM PO BCE - don't sit well next to each other, they touch. Can you comment? oh, and very nice kitchen you have The largest watch I have is that Wenger GST Sea with the large Crown Guard (The one in my Avatar). Definitely an issue in my smaller winder when sitting next to my 42.5 PO, as these two heavy watches moved on the watch holders, banging into each other. For what it is worth, the watch holders on this winder are SNUG when inserted into their homes. If I loaded my biggest two watches with the crowns facing out, there was no touching because of that snug fit. With the 45-47mm Pams, this might be an issue. I will load up my biggest watches tonight, measure, and take some follow up pictures to try and answer that question for you Pho. The Kitchen, yeah.....that's where my wife put all the money for Gens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The cack Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hmmm..This winder isn't on the acetimer website anymore...hope it returns soon...this would be perfect for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hmmm..This winder isn't on the acetimer website anymore...hope it returns soon...this would be perfect for me... You are right. This winder is not on the Acetimer website. I ordered the biggest winder they had about 2 weeks ago, and got an email from Anthony, saying "Sorry, out of stock, but got a new winder coming in, I will send you some pics." The pics looked good, so I ordered one with Cherry finish (the Burl finished one also looked excellent), and this is a review of that piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WatchDude Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Nice review. Funny how one of the switches appears to be upside down. Does it rotate bi-directionally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo2001 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Speaking as an electronics dude, the wiring in that apparatus looks more than adequate. Thicker wire would be necessary in a high current application, which this is NOT. The "wax" drizzled over the inputs is actually hot glue. Most speakers and other devices built in particleboard enclosures use lots of hot glue. Why? it is cheap and fast and sticks like a mofo to anything. Switches are designed to pressure fit securely in sheet metal enclosures by "snapping in", but can use some help holding in thick particleboard. The glue will keep them where they belong. When I start seeing hot glue in reps, that is when I'll be concerned!! It's probably only a matter of time... I just bought an Ace Timer watch box on ebay that looks like it was built in the same factory. Hoping to take delivery today. Looked decent in the pics. Enjoy the winder! mojo2001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Speaking as an electronics dude, the wiring in that apparatus looks more than adequate. Thicker wire would be necessary in a high current application, which this is NOT. The "wax" drizzled over the inputs is actually hot glue. Most speakers and other devices built in particleboard enclosures use lots of hot glue. Why? it is cheap and fast and sticks like a mofo to anything. Switches are designed to pressure fit securely in sheet metal enclosures by "snapping in", but can use some help holding in thick particleboard. The glue will keep them where they belong. When I start seeing hot glue in reps, that is when I'll be concerned!! It's probably only a matter of time... I just bought an Ace Timer watch box on ebay that looks like it was built in the same factory. Hoping to take delivery today. Looked decent in the pics. Enjoy the winder! mojo2001 Mojo, Thanks, I will update the review about wire guage and hot glue not being a bad thing. That'g gonna make the "Bad" list even shorter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rxus Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Very nice review, and like someone else already mentioned a good break from the heated topic below this one. Have fun filling her up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdorman Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I have had the same one since Christmas and so far, so good. I have noticed that my watches have become magnitized but I have not determined if that is from the winder or the fact I work on computers all day. Off topic question... Blackrain, who made your kitchen cabinets? They look like the ones I just ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I have had the same one since Christmas and so far, so good. I have noticed that my watches have become magnitized but I have not determined if that is from the winder or the fact I work on computers all day. Off topic question... Blackrain, who made your kitchen cabinets? They look like the ones I just ordered. Pretty funny considering we collect watches, the cabinets are made by "Omega" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdorman Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Omega! LOL that is funny. I was looking at those as well. Nice cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yodaddynukka Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 i have a 44mm pam next to a MBW 1680 on the 4 winder version of this winder and they bump into each other. i had to angle the suede watch holder upwards so that the 2 watches wouldnt touch each other. now my PAM has a whole bunch of scratches from my MBW crown... no one else has that problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 A nice review, thanks man, i have two of the cheep bay ones a 2er and a 4er, noisy as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omega1 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Great review Blackrain! I must admit that I am interested in the 4 watch winder. However, I could not find a $149 4 watch winder on Acetimers site. Do you happen to have a link for that one? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdorman Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 i have a 44mm pam next to a MBW 1680 on the 4 winder version of this winder and they bump into each other. i had to angle the suede watch holder upwards so that the 2 watches wouldnt touch each other. now my PAM has a whole bunch of scratches from my MBW crown... no one else has that problem? I had that issue with some of the big pams. I just take the ring that is removable from the pads to size them, and place them between the watchs. It stays in place and no more rubbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Great review Blackrain! I must admit that I am interested in the 4 watch winder. However, I could not find a $149 4 watch winder on Acetimers site. Do you happen to have a link for that one? Jim Jim, I was origionally trying to order that nice 4 watch winder you see on Anthony's website (for $199), when he emailed me to say they were out of stock, but he was getting in a 4 watch winder (with 2 "bigger" motors) for $149, or the 8 watch version (with 4 "improved" motors) for $199, and which one would I want? Well, still not having obtained a Big Bang, Ferrari Paneri, PAM 111H, Fiddy, etc, etc, etc, by brain just defaulted to "bigger is better", and I never looked into the 4 watch winder any further. I have emailed Anthony about the review, I hope he steps up to the plate, updates his website, and gets stock in on these nice winders, as he has an excellent reputation, and that's going to go a LONG way right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omega1 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Jim, I was origionally trying to order that nice 4 watch winder you see on Anthony's website (for $199), when he emailed me to say they were out of stock, but he was getting in a 4 watch winder (with 2 "bigger" motors) for $149, or the 8 watch version (with 4 "improved" motors) for $199, and which one would I want? Well, still not having obtained a Big Bang, Ferrari Paneri, PAM 111H, Fiddy, etc, etc, etc, by brain just defaulted to "bigger is better", and I never looked into the 4 watch winder any further. I have emailed Anthony about the review, I hope he steps up to the plate, updates his website, and gets stock in on these nice winders, as he has an excellent reputation, and that's going to go a LONG way right now Excellent. Thanks for the info. I will just keep an eye on his site. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob1 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I have emailed Anthony about the review, I hope he steps up to the plate, updates his website, and gets stock in on these nice winders, as he has an excellent reputation, and that's going to go a LONG way right now I've emailed him to ask for a quote to ship one of those things to me in the UK. No reply yet, buy I hope the shipping won't be too expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yodaddynukka Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 very nice idea! i will do that now!! thanks!!!!! I had that issue with some of the big pams. I just take the ring that is removable from the pads to size them, and place them between the watchs. It stays in place and no more rubbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrain Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 I snapped a few more pictures to show how much space is between the watches, as 47mm plus watches are in question on this winder. I would think the big PAMs might be an issue, if you put them in, side by side, especially if they are "loose" on the watch holder. I would expect contact based on how close the Orange Monster and 42.5mm PO appear in my pictures. Now, if we take advantage of the vertical movement of pedestal slots, turn the crowns away from each other, and fit them in snuggly, we can create some more room. I still think two Fiddy's on the same pedestal would be too tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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