Recently Kunstwinder from the USA contacted us. Soon we received more information and photos about this interesting brand. The watchwinders do have a very specific design and look, and are certainly different than the ordinary watchwinder. The retail prices are between 4,600 and 4,800 USD. What do you get for this price? The answer is simple; a beautiful watchwinder with Swiss made motor  and very original design. Thereby it winds any automatic watch in a very special way, which always attracts the eyes of your family and friends. 

Kunstwinder is a family-owned company that strives to deliver the ultimate line of watchwinders to showcase the most treasured timepieces. The idea for the company emerged when Valentin Balter (photo), a mechanical engineer by trade, began his search for a personal watchwinder. Disappointed by the merely functional, unimaginative boxes available to house his mechanical watches, Valentin started initial designs and prototypes of his own watchwinder.

Each of the Kunstwinder watchwinders is designed in accordance with the Kunstwinder mission statement: construct a functional, high quality watchwinder, replicate a known mechanical apparatus, and create an attractive display for valuable timepieces. Put quite simply, Kunstwinder combines the beauty of precision mechanics with the whimsical charm of a collectable masterpiece. 

We all know the following problem, you have a nice looking watchwinder but your watches don't fit that great on the watch holder. The watch holder is too small or too big, or is not flexible enough. This makes the watchwinder less fun to use as you want the best for your automatic watches, and more important, that they are safe within the watchwinder.

More and more watchwinder brands do offer their watchwinders with adjustable watch holders. There are all kind of systems. Those who can be adjusted by a spring and watch holders which can be adjusted by removing/adding an extra part. There are also brands which use pillows as watch holder in their watchwinders. Is the one system better than the other? It really depends on the exact watch holder and its quality. In our experience a pillow is not that great as there is no security protection. The watch holder can fall out the watchwinder more easy than a watch holder with "click-system". 

When you buy a watchwinder, please check the exact watch holder. It makes a difference. 

The Dutch watchwinder brand Benson is one of the revelations of the last years. The brand presented the Black Series watchwinders early this year and became incredible popular. With distributors all over the world and cooperations with high end Swiss and German watch brands this relatively new brand is very successful. 

We wrote at this blog already about the Benson Black Series watchwinders and tested two different models. Our conclusion was that these watchwinders offer a lot value for money. Therefore we are curious about the new models which Benson told us about one month ago.

Today we have good news. Benson watchwinders will present several new Black Series models in november. Benson developed a new Black Series single watchwinder with built-in battery. The design is in line with the current Black Series watchwinder models. All new single watchwinders will be available in black, carbon fiber, white and macassar. The official retail price will be 299,00 euro incl. VAT. 

Also the current Black Series models for 2, 4, 6 and 8 watchwinders will be available in the new macassar style. Next to black, carbon fiber and white the new macassar colour will be attractive for those who like a more natural (wood look) exterior. 

The new Black Series single watchwinder and new macassar colour versions will be available around november of this year.

When a safe can’t be recognized outwardly as such, it is an extremely effective protection against unauthorized access. The Opus series – the latest creation from the Swabian safe manufactory Döttling – has been designed with this consideration in mind. At first glance, the luxury safe appears to be a valuable piece of furniture. Inside, however, state-of-the-art technology is integrated – invisible to the eye of an observer. 

In general, one thing is true for all the safes in the Opus series: the body of the safe can be created in every imaginable style, from antique to modern. The Opus 1, for example, with its high-gloss finish in grand piano quality and gilded decorative elements, clearly orients itself on the design of an antique armoire in the historicist style. All the distinguishing features that indicate a safe have been cleverly hidden – for instance, the specially developed door mechanism, which completely conceals the hinges. This even applies to the console of the electronic high-security lock, which is integrated behind a tiny secret flap in one of the decorative elements.

Once the owner opens the heavy doors, either by means of a finger scan or by entering the security code, the gaze is drawn to the interior, magnificently outfitted in poplar burl veneer and Alcantara. Here, 40 precision watchwinders, 12 drawers and two extendable tables offer enough room for up to 250 valuable watches.

And since the luxury safe corresponds to VdS class 4, these valuables are always protected against unauthorized access. Twelve gilded bolts made of specially hardened steel lock the doors when closed like a fortress. Unlike normal safes, a multi-shell construction guarantees a resistance that is up to six times higher. And naturally, the Opus 1 can also be connected to an alarm system. The built-in seismic microphone records even the smallest vibrations and then immediately triggers an alarm.

Döttling again surprises with a beautiful high end product! 

The summer has really started now and the weather is great. When we talk about summer we think about Italy, a beautiful country with great regions known for it's good wine and food. Related to watchwinders when we say Italy we think about brands as Underwood and Scatola del Tempo.

This last brand has our special attention as they were also present at Baselworld this year. After visiting their booth we concluded they didn't present anything (really) new. Scatola del Tempo only presented some variations on their current collection, which is not more than a new color accent. The watchwinders which were available 6 years ago are still there.....our question is why? 

Great brand, nice history but no innovation.

When we take a closer look at Scatola del Tempo we see a brand with a nice history and reasonable reputation (please read our previous articles about this Italian brand). We follow Scatola del Tempo for quite some years, and they never surprised us with a complete new model, new technique or any other innovations. Is this the reason that more and more jewellers stop selling the Scatola del Tempo watchwinders and choose for other brands in their shops? Can Scatola del Tempo continue this strategy for the coming years?

The answers on these questions are hard to give at this moment, but we are sure that brands need innovation to keep their products selling. We have seen multiple brands which did trust on their original products and didn't focus on innovation which nowadays don't even exist anymore.

Let's hope we see new watchwinders of this Italian brand soon!