The name Underwood has become more known the last years....not because of the Underwood watchwinders but because of the brilliant series House of Cards with Frank Underwood who works his way up to US president. When you Google "Underwood" you won't find the watchwinder brand on the first pages of the search results. Of course when you search for "Underwood watchwinders" you will find the Italian brand instantly.

Last year we did meet Underwood watchwinders in Basel at Baselworld. In a hotel next to Baselworld Underwood presented us their newest products and materials. The welcome was very warm, as we are used to with Italian people. In the field of watchwinders Underwood London is a small player on the market with a focus on the more luxury watchwinders in a higher price level. Not as high as Stockinger or Buben & Zörweg. In our opinion the brand can be compared with Scatola del Tempo, also an Italian watchwinder brand. Their designs, materials and finishing are comparable. The fact that both brands do love to work with natural materials as leather is reflected in their watchwinder collections. Where Scatola del Tempo has a bigger range of single watchwinders, does Underwood London have a more interesting collection of bigger watchwinders for more automatic watches.

A big difference between both brands is that Underwood London watchwinders use a modular system. This means that the watchwinder can be taken out of the watchwinder case. Scatola del Tempo watchwinders do have integrated watchwinders, which cannot be taken out by the user. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.

What both brand do have in common is that their level of innovation is not that high. Each year a minimum of changes are made into their new collections of watchwinders. Both Italian watchwinder brands do keep close to their values, materials and design. There is certainly a group of consumers who loves Underwood London and Scatola del Tempo watchwinders, nevertheless there is more and more competition of watchwinder brands offering a comparable level of quality, technique and finish. Innovation is normally the method to avoid too much competition. We are very curious about the presentation of the new Underwood London watchwinders, and the Scatola del Tempo watchwinders at Baselworld.

There are not many watchwinder brands that also produce watches. Buben & Zörweg is an exception.

Launched at Baselworld 2015, the One Dual Time is the most recent creation in the Buben & Zörweg wristwatch collection and also the thinnest in the family. This time the manufactury decided to honor the traveler with a special timepiece by adding a second time zone at 6 o´clock to the local time display indicated by the central hands.

The complication of choice for every busy traveler, the second time zone indication is an indispensable tool that is frequently difficult to read in many wristwatches. The One Dual Time by Buben & Zörweg uses a clear and very readable 24-hour display that globetrotters and world travelers alike will appreciate for its ability to distinctly show the local time and the time of a far-off location, simultaneously.

As much as one loves elaborate complications, above all else, it tends to be the most basic features of a watch that appeal the most for their utility. In this sense the new One Dual Time is unquestionably a statement of usability that carries the power of innovation, aesthetic design and master craftsmanship of the Buben & Zörweg manufactury to new heights.

Paul Design is a quite new brand producing watchwinders. The watchwinders are made in Asia but are in all aspects value for your money. We tested some models the last two years and every time we are positively surprised about the building quality, solid materials and clever engineering. Next to these important elements the Paul Design watchwinders do have beautiful designs.

Paul Design watchwinders quickly made name for itself resulting in several dealers worldwide. The focus is on producing more high-end watchwinder models suitable for multiple automatic watches.

Here in our office we have the Paul Design Gentlemen 4+6 (picture below) which can wind 4 automatic watches and offers extra storage for another 6 watches. The control panel works fine and allows us to set our preferences within seconds. The LED lighting ensures a beautiful sight at the rotating watches. The watchwinder itself is quite heavy, a result of decent materials and good construction.

We think Paul Design is one of the promising brands which will be more successful in the nearby future. As said, they offer a lot of value for money and are ready to expand their collection with new models. Keep up the good work!

More and more new brands in the field of watchwinders are launched. That's good news! One of these brands is Barrington. The brand is based in the UK but produces its watchwinders in China. We took a closer look at Barrington and reckognized the design and style. We have seen it before at another brand. Did Barrington just copy the style and put their own name on it? We asked them, but didn’t get a reply.

Then we remembered which brand launched this type of watchwinders before Barrington did. We contacted them and asked for their reaction. Soon we received e-mails with the confirmation that Benson Watchwinders already developed this series in 2010. We received photos from samples, drawings, materials and of their factory visits. The first Barrington watchwinders are a direct copy of the Smart-Tech series from the Dutch brand Benson Watchwinders.

But why? As a new brand it’s important to be original and give your products an own style. But things are getting more strange…why does Barrington sell their watchwinders for prices which are almost twice the price of the Benson Watchwinders?

It seems Barrington learned that a copy of an already existing watchwinder doesn’t make it successful. They launched a new series in carbon style which is a little bit different than their first series. The technique is still the same.

We are always very keen on new watchwinder brands. As they can influence the market with their new ideas, technology and style….But please be original…don’t copy, we are not in China;)
Let’s hope Barrington keeps innovating and doesn’t copy from other brands again. As we are sure the consumer won’t accept it.

First, we would like to thank you for reading and supporting our Watchwinder blog. We appreciate your questions, remarks and hints. We also would like to thank the watchwinder brands, you helped us with information and photo material to write our articles. 

2016 will be a very interesting year with new releases of beautiful watchwinder series, Baselworld in Switzerland and new watchwinder brands which will introduce their new products. We are looking forward to it. 

We hope 2016 will be a great year for everybody! We wish you all the best and hope to welcome you again on our Watchwinder blog!