Blog 2 Watch Winders

Eventually, every watch enthusiast reaches a point where he or she simply has too many watches to wear.  Unless you're the dear departed Nicholas Hayek, there just isn't enough room under the sleeves of your bespoke jacket to carry – and in so doing, wind – all those magnificent, mechanical, automatic pieces.  What to do?

Here at TimescapeUSA, we humbly suggest you consider a watch winder.  This isn't another desktop trinket like the monogrammed Brookstone pen set Grandma picked out.  Watch winders serve a practical, three-fold purpose.

Accuracy

The titans of industry employ vast, computer-controlled armatures capable of winding and testing dozens of automatic watches.  Observation of the autonomy of a movement following a controlled load interval can give important clues to the watch's general health.  Does the caliber run the duration of its promised power reserve?  Does the mainspring accumulate so much tension that it knocks, radically increasing its rate?  Reputable pieces undergoes such testing both prior and subsequent to the casing process.

Outside the lab, the purpose of a watch winder is to hold your timepiece in safety and comfort while gently simulating the motion of your very own wrist, keeping the watch at full-wind while guaranteeing its timing and date calibration.  Instead of occasioning a 45 minute explanation from a Valle de Joux factory technician, your perpetual calendar is wound, set to the proper day and minute, and prepared to serve.  With a watch winder like our leather-clad Underwood or our very exclusive Buben and Zorweg, any and all of your pieces exist in a constant state of readiness.

Health

Like the illustrious Stradivarius coveted by every concert violinist, if left alone your watch will gradually expire.  When immobile for long enough, critical lubricants within the watch begin to creep and break down, leaving jeweled bearings dry.  The adhesive residue left behind is certain to hamper the transfer of power through the movement and the accuracy and precision of its regulating organ.  In a worst case scenario, a watch abandoned to its own devices can see certain (admittedly antique) lubricants become actively acidic, etching steel pivots. The gentle ministrations of a watch winder will greatly slow this process, maintaining oils in a fluid state and with proper viscosity.  Maybe life doesn't allow you to hit the gym as often as you'd like, but that doesn't have to apply to your watch.  On an Orbita or Scatola del Tempo,  your piece can be taking a leisurely stroll all of the time.

Pleasure

Perhaps this isn't a truly practical concern, but for the discerning watch enthusiast a quality timepiece isn't just a hedge against fluctuations in the market for Sweet Crude – you buy watches because you enjoy them.  And if style and common sense limit you to wearing only one, wouldn't it be nicer to observe the remaining watches in your collection?  To see them wound, accurate, and available for your selection?  Nothing beats a deposit box buried in a Zurich vault for safety, but for pleasure you might be more amused by a Swiss Kubic in the flag colors of your favorite island tax haven, spinning out the hours.  TimescapeUSA is one of the few Swiss Kubic dealers in America, with several styles in stock.

So take a moment to peruse the watch winders in our extensive collections.  Whether it's a desktop unit to stimulate your One and Only, or one of our fabulous Buben and Zorweg salon cabinets capable of turning 80 watches at once, TimescapeUSA can guide you in the selection of a piece appropriate to your needs and equal to your taste.

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