Watchwatcher Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 (edited) Great idea... I was planning to get a cheapo quad off ebay, but was worried about the noise because it would be in my bedroom at night. The timer idea is great... only let it run during the day. I like it. Mike-- i keep the winder in my office because it is too loud, but i still don't want it running all night in case it catches on fire -- as i said, it is very cheaply made. i'm betting it dies within 3 mos, but who knows i could be pleasantly surprised. Edited March 21, 2006 by Watchwatcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 JJ,... a beer would be Great ! & Ethan, .. mine were all in good humor. Peace ! I post the whole TimeZone article below, for others like Watchwatcher, just in case they may be damaging their watches with their homemade winders. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As noted in section 2.1, collectors who have more than one automatic watch may have "difficulty" keeping any one watch going continuously. This leads to increased inconvenience if calendars and moonphases must be reset. A solution has been invented - the automatic watch winder. The idea is quite simple: strap the automatic watch to a motor, which then moves the watch enough to keep it wound when not worn on the wrist. That way, one can choose to wear any watch at any time, and not have to reset the time or calendars. In theory, this device should be simple and cheap. In practice, it's not as easy as it sounds. First, while an automatic watch has an overwind protection mechanism to avoid damage to the movement, if the overwind mechanism is constantly used for hours at a time (i.e. though constant turning, rather than the unpredictable movement of the human wrist), the lubrication of the mechanism is worn out faster. This means that watch winders must be designed to only make so many turns per day, and to let the watch sit. Furthermore, since automatic winding mechanisms vary from watch model to model, the winder must be designed to have an adjustable number and direction of turns per day. Finally, mechanical watches are considered luxury items, which means watch winders are doubly so - due to the small number of people who would actually want one. All of this means that manufacturers for the consumer market must not only make their winders mechanically foolproof to avoid damaging watches, but they often construct the winder comparably to a jewelry box. The upshot of all this is that most consumer watch winders with programmable winding are expensive - often costing several hundred or thousand dollars. While cheaper professional models exist, these often do not come with programmable settings, as the maker assumes that they would be used in a watchmaker's shop. Last word - winders are not a necessity, they are a convenience. You should decide whether they are worth it based on whether you feel inconvenienced resetting your automatics occasionally, and whether they are worth it to you as a luxury item. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also this again for anyone that is considering purchasing one, know how to select their model. http://www.watchcases.com/automaticwat.html Peace Out ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF_Mike Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Mike-- i keep the winder in my office because it is too loud, but i still don't want it running all night in case it catches on fire -- as i said, it is very cheaply made. i'm betting it dies within 3 mos, but who knows i could be pleasantly surprised. Which one did you get? Is it one of these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=891202450 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=8916726018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Which one did you get? Is it one of these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=891202450 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=8916726018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Ethan, .. mine were all in good humor. Peace ! Thank you Richard; olive branch accepted. I have been doing a little more investigating, and cannot find an absolute consensus on this... When I bought my Steinhausen, I did so based on advice I received when I was in Bern on a business trip, from a local Swiss watch dealer. Now, I admit that just because he was Swiss and located in the Mecca of the watch world doesn't mean he necessarily knew what he was talking about. But the shop had been there for 180 years, and he seemed like a good old fellow. He felt that it was almost criminal that I didn't own a winder (and an expensive one at that); like, "You DON'T have a winder???" Now, had he been selling winders, I would have been immediately suspicious, but he did not. He also didn't immediately recommend his buddy down the street. So, when I got home I picked one up. I can't even find the model on the web anymore (this was a couple of years ago), so when I get back to my office, I'll grab my camera and take a couple of pics. It's unique in that it has the 'fuzzy logic' pattern (see below) in both clockwise and counter-clockwise, as well as a daily computerized timer for EACH of the double-watch motors. It has worked fabulously since I bought it. Fuzzy Logic Pattern: I called three local watch dealers (here in Toronto) this morning to get their take on winders (with all this discussion, I was wondering if the advice given to me was still correct...). The first did not sell winders (watches and jewellery only), and answered with the same emphatic "YES!" that I heard in Bern. The second did sell winders (single watch only) and his opinion was that they were more of a convenience than anything else. The third also did not sell winders, and insisted that they would over-work any watch that spent a majority of time on them; she did not favour their use at all (like Richard, she prefers hand-winding and closer personal care over convenience and automation). So there it is. I think that ultimately if you buy an expensive winder (providing your collection is worth it) with the functionality I have mentioned above, and you regularly cycle through your watches, you can't go far wrong. Alternatively, Watchwatcher's setup appears to do basically the same thing, although I don't know if the 'cycle' pattern is the same , or if the motors just turn one way, and then the other. Ultimately, you cannot go wrong with Richard's by-hand process; as he rightly pointed out earlier on, we've been hand-winding for a lot longer than auto winders have been around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Tracy Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Thank you Richard; olive branch accepted. I have been doing a little more investigating, and cannot find an absolute consensus on this... When I bought my Steinhausen, I did so based on advice I received when I was in Bern on a business trip, from a local Swiss watch dealer. Now, I admit that just because he was Swiss and located in the Mecca of the watch world doesn't mean he necessarily knew what he was talking about. But the shop had been there for 180 years, and he seemed like a good old fellow. He felt that it was almost criminal that I didn't own a winder (and an expensive one at that); like, "You DON'T have a winder???" Now, had he been selling winders, I would have been immediately suspicious, but he did not. He also didn't immediately recommend his buddy down the street. So, when I got home I picked one up. I can't even find the model on the web anymore (this was a couple of years ago), so when I get back to my office, I'll grab my camera and take a couple of pics. It's unique in that it has the 'fuzzy logic' pattern (see below) in both clockwise and counter-clockwise, as well as a daily computerized timer for EACH of the double-watch motors. It has worked fabulously since I bought it. Fuzzy Logic Pattern: I called three local watch dealers (here in Toronto) this morning to get their take on winders (with all this discussion, I was wondering if the advice given to me was still correct...). The first did not sell winders (watches and jewellery only), and answered with the same emphatic "YES!" that I heard in Bern. The second did sell winders (single watch only) and his opinion was that they were more of a convenience than anything else. The third also did not sell winders, and insisted that they would over-work any watch that spent a majority of time on them; she did not favour their use at all (like Richard, she prefers hand-winding and closer personal care over convenience and automation). So there it is. I think that ultimately if you buy an expensive winder (providing your collection is worth it) with the functionality I have mentioned above, and you regularly cycle through your watches, you can't go far wrong. Alternatively, Watchwatcher's setup appears to do basically the same thing, although I don't know if the 'cycle' pattern is the same , or if the motors just turn one way, and then the other. Ultimately, you cannot go wrong with Richard's by-hand process; as he rightly pointed out earlier on, we've been hand-winding for a lot longer than auto winders have been around... A perfect ending to this thread Ethan ! Thanks & it was good doing the mind meld with you and JJ ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Wow JJ, that Orbita Automatic Watch Winding Database says my Valjoux7750 and 7751 movements should go in a Clockwise direction. I know my winders are set to go one direction and then reverse, etc, etc. Now I'm going to have to go check out the winders and see if they can be set to CW only. Of course, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense- how does one keep their wrist from going in a counterclockwise direction? And those are two fairly nice Swiss Valjoux watches and the winder is for convenience, since each has a day/date feature and the 7751 has a moon phase- that's a lot of stuff to reset when it's time to put them on. Guess I'll have to check it out when I get home tonite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchwatcher Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Which one did you get? Is it one of these? Like this one... sounds like a meat grinder... but, guess what, my watches don't know the difference. $9.99 plus $50 S&H. Trust me, i'm beyond the point of trying to impress people by the brand of watchwinder i use (LOL). So far it is working fine and the watches are happy. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...Y_BID_Stores_IT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracker Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 Well a rule of Physics is an object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest... so I like to keep my movements well er moving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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