Internet is growing and growing. Decades ago, almost nobody could have expected that internet would be of this influence on our lives nowadays. Consumers bought products in regular shops where they could touch, try and look at it, before buying it. Times change....nowadays online stores are getting more and more popular.

Next to the traditional jewellers there are now many good online stores for watches and watchwinders. Some jewellers do recognize what's going on and also started their own online store next to their regular shop. But many jewellers closed their doors the last five years as result of crises, but also as they refused to meet their customers demands of buying online. 

There are some great online stores for watchwinders, and they carry a lot of well known watchwinder brands. Nevertheless many high end brands are only sold in regular shops where consumers can visit and take a look at the watchwinders. The staff in the shop can advise them and inform them about all specs and functions. The problem is that not many shops do have these brands and therefore it's quite difficult for a consumer to find a good shop, go there and buy a beautiful watchwinder. 

The solution is offered by online stores. We did check some online store selling watchwinders. Most of them have a good mix of brands. Their websites provide all information, good photo material and their prices are the same or lower than at traditional jewellery shops. The advantage of these online stores is that you can compare products quite easily and also that most of them ship worldwide. These online stores also have a return policy, so if you're not satisfied you can return it. 

The question is when the high-end brands will start selling online. Due to the crisis and upcoming internet possibilities we know that some brands already consider to sell online by respectable partners in 2016. Other brands will start selling online by their own online store, but hopefully the bigger online stores specialized in watchwinders get this opportunity too. Why? As they can offer a great mix of brands which makes it very easy to compare for consumers. At the end, that's what we all want, right? Like a watchwinder, developed to make life more easy! 

Christmas is coming and this time of the year is very exciting for all watchwinder brands, as their sales increase big time compared to the other months of the year. For you, as consumer, it's an interesting time beacuse many watchwinder brands do offer spectacular discounts which makes it very attractive to buy a watchwinder. Not only for yourself, but also as Christmas gift for your partner, a good friend or family.

We selected the best watchwinders in different price segments. 

Entry level watchwinders (up to 300 euro)

In this segment there is a lot to choose, but to be honest there are only a few brands which really offer good quality watchwinders. As we pointed out in multiple articles on this blog, don't buy a watchwinder with Chinese motors. The first week you will be happy, but after that the watchwinder will start making more sound and eventually stops working. Spend a little more money for a good watchwinder. Brands as Rapport, Spin-R and definitely Benson offer value for money. But you can also think about a Swiss Kubik ABS. 

Middle segment watchwinders (from 300 to 1500 euro)

When you want to spend a little more money you can buy a beautiful watchwinder which will give you joy for many years. These watchwinders offer better materials, more functionalities and mostly a more attractive design. In the middle price segment we think of brands as Swiss Kubik, Heisse & Söhne, Jebely, Wolf and Paul Design. Especially the Paul Design watchwinders offer a beautiful design, solid technique and fair price.

But also don't forget the Benson Smart-Tech series. This popular series has a perfect combination of all aspects we prefer in a watchwinder. We are also looking forward for the new Benson Black Series. This new series offers affordable luxury for the real watch adept. 

High end watchwinders (from 1500 to ......)

When money is not a problem, you can buy yourself a beautiful watchwinder made of the best materials, with the best high-end technology and astonishing design. Many brands in this price segment also offer the posibility to customize your own watchwinder. The most brands in this class are produced in the European Union (mostly Germany or Switzerland), which guarantees a very high level of quality and finishing. We all know the masterpieces of Buben & Zörweg, Stockinger and Elma. But less known but also beautiful are the Bernard Favre watchwinders.

So if you plan to buy a new watchwinder, this is the time!  

We are always keen to meet and interview people who are working for watchwinder brands, to learn more about the brand, background and products. This time we were lucky that Mr. Christian Zörweg found time to tell us about Buben & Zörweg, the leader and trendsetter in the market of high end watchwinders.

Could you please introduce yourself and function at Buben & Zörweg? 

My name is Christian Zörweg, I am the co-founder and co-president of Buben & Zörweg.
I formerly worked as a Gemstone-dealer during my university days at Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria. I subsequently founded Buben & Zörweg with my childhood friend, Harald Buben.

How would you describe the Buben & Zörweg company?

“Buben & Zörweg delights lovers of fine timepieces with unique masterpieces of craftsmanship. These exclusive objects of time are characterised by a symbiosis of ground-breaking innovation and elegant design. Selected materials and perfect craftsmanship combine to fulfil and exceed customer expectations."

That is the credo of luxury brand Buben & Zörweg. Since 1995, Buben & Zörweg’s activities have focused on delighting customers with masterpieces of German craftsmanship and testing the boundaries of technology and handicraft. The first milestone after the company was founded in 1995 was the introduction of the Time Mover®; consistent pioneering work soon made Buben & Zörweg the market leader in this segment.

How would you describe the Buben & Zörweg watchwinders?

Certainly we at Buben & Zörweg share the drive to break new grounds and love to develop objects that nobody has seen before. I am responsible for the design and I work together with a team of designers. At Buben & Zörweg we want to link the contemporary with the classic and our objects should be a eye-catcher in any environment. Every product is a unique piece of art itself – it’s a design object which you should present - f.e. in your living room, all our products are made out of the best materials: Italian nappa leather with croco imprint, wood like Makassar, ebony grigio or walnut purl wood, mother of pearl, brushed stainless steel, two way mirror spy glass ...

Can you tell us more about the production proces?

The masterpieces are 100% designed and made in Germany in our manufactory, which is located in the heart of Germany’s engineering region near Stuttgart. About 20 engineers, watchmakers and assemblers are considered a part of the quality assurance system that characterises each individual masterpiece. Wearing white gloves and jackets and countersigning every stage of a stringent quality control procedure is a matter of course at the Buben & Zörweg manufacture.

The watchwinder technology is created together with our partner company ELMA.

It all starts with the beauty that nature has to offer. Selecting raw material. The pattern of the rare macassar ebony which gained it's popularity in the art deco area and will live on in emotional modern Art deco design DNA. It comes naturally that Buben & Zörweg sources and selects worldwide only the very finest veneers.

For the housing we use selected woods such as macassar, high quality carbon fibre, fine leather, etc. whatever the customer desires. Our aim is to create masterpieces that address all senses and fathoms the dimensions of exceptional taste. Exquisite materials, innovative technology, optimum security solutions and fascinating design hand-crafted by masters of their art become solitary objects of desire for people with a sense for the exclusive aesthetics of perfection.

What are the main markets for Buben & Zörweg? And can you tell us more about the business structure; do you have distributors, dealers or do you sell directly to consumers?

Asia, Russia, Middle East, but also Germany, Switzerland and England are important markets.

With 7 standalone boutiques and over 25 in-shop boutiques, the company is present in over 100 countries. We have a strong distributor network and are available from carefully selected jewellers worldwide.

Store Locator

With internet upcoming, do you consider to sell online by strong internet dealers?

Our masterpieces are offered at different prices depending on the country of sale. This is due to the custom duties and import taxes, cost of transport and installation and the tax differences. Therefore we have decided to prevent the prices of our masterpieces from being published via the internet. That is why we don’t consider to sell our masterpieces online.
This may be changed sometime in the future.

In what way will Buben & Zörweg develop the coming years? What will be the focus?

• We will continue to build B&Z as an international luxury brand. More B&Z Boutiques will arise to give our customer the opportunity to even better experience of the universe of B&Z
• B&Z will always be as exclusive as our customers are. We are a luxury brand for people that seek to express their individuality in our exclusive and often unique masterpieces.
• B&Z is a men’s brand and we have many ideas how to enrich this (men’s) world with our competences.
• Our creativity and drive for innovation is deeply implemented in the DNA of our brand and is to stay for the next 20 years and beyond….

We find it challenging to build a brand for the next 100 years that can be handed down in generations - Constantly being creative and open to new opportunities and challenges according to the natural law of change. We stand at the beginning of a long tradition which is very much about the spirit and the people that share it, work together happily and building the house of Buben & Zorweg in an ever changing world….

What new projects can we expect soon?

We are taking another innovative step in the world of elitist interiors in the form of the Bespoke Line: our customers can utilise a fascinating range of options to exert their influence on the appearance of their masterpieces. That is the advantage of luxurious objects perfectly manufactured by hand – incorporating customised changes is no problem at all. There will be a range of 20 carefully selected leather and lacquer colours (10 each) and the customer can choose what he likes most.

Why should we buy a Buben & Zörweg watchwinder?

It’s a piece of art, made out of the best materials, made by the best craftsmen in Germany. The design is unique, but very timeless – it’s something you will love in 20 or 30 years as much as you do now. It’s not a luxury product, that many people own, it’s a well kept secret and therefore even more special. 

Recently we wrote an article about Jebely, a watchwinder brand from Taiwan which produces interesting watchwinders for reasonable prices. As we like to learn more about relatively unknown watchwinder brands we asked Mr. Tony Liao from Jebely for an interview. 

Could you please introduce yourself and function at Jebely?

I’m Tony Liao from Taichung, Taiwan. I did study at the University of the Art at Philadelphia, USA. I also did a major in Industrial Design for product developement. In the company I am currently resonsible for the Jebely watchwinder branding and sales since 2012.

How would you describe the Jebely company?

Jebely is a Swiss brand which we bought in 2003. We believe to bringing the high-end watchwinder to more majority market and add personality to it. For a long period of time, we were OEM/ODM for many brands in US and Europe. As a professional watchwinder manufacturer, we believe we have more proper reason to bring our own brand with our own technology and design to the market.

How would you describe the Jebely watchwinders?

Currently we have three different levels watchwinder for different market.
First is entry level watchwinder, which is made with plastic and metal combination. We are targeting the majority customer with affordable price.

Second, we have standerd and classic style of watchwinder for those who have 3 up to 8 mechanical watches. They are very simple, square-like watchwinder with different special panels and design treatment to represent the different personality and style. Mainly is for the watches collection.

Third, our flagship (or luxury) watchwinder is for special showcase in watch store, club, department store, or special watch collection.

We identified the Jebely watchwinder as the stylize, personalize watchwinder. With modern and unique design style for more younger generation.

Can you tell us more about the production proces?

Currently Jebely watchwinders are all made in Taiwan. We developed our own gear box with Japanese motor which we can provide two years warranty.

Base on our three levels of watchwinder, mainly materials are used as wood, glass, aluminum, and plastic combination.

What are the main markets for Jebely? And can you tell us more about the business structure; do you have distributors, dealers or do you sell directly to consumers?

Currently our main markets are China and Japan where we have our branch office for exclusive sales. We are currently looking for distributors, partners, and dealers worldwide.

In which way will Jebely develop the coming years? What will be your focus?

We are focusing in the entry-level watchwinder and module watchwinder.

If you would compare Jebely with another brand, which brand is this and why?

I will say that we are not easy to compare to any other brand since our product design is very different than others. We are not like traditional watchwinder brands, either we are not very high-end of technique or finishing. We are focusing in stylish consumer product.

What new projects can we expect soon?

We are trying hard to bring the metal watchwinder in entry-level price with unique design style.

Why should we buy a Jebely watchwinder?

With a long period of OEM/ODM background, we are confident to bring the European quality with Asian price, and a stylish design. 

Every watch adept knows that there is a moment to make a decision between being satisfied with the current collection of automatic watches, or to expand it with more watches. This decision is hard to make as it's not one to make with common sense. We all know the passion and love when we see another beautiful watch...There is no end. 

Those who look after their automatic watches use a watchwinder. It keeps the watches in motion, and they should be...compare it with a car. Almost everyone starts with a small watchwinder for one or maybe two watches. But then the collection expands and the small watchwinder doesn't offer the capacity you prefer. You want to store the watches all together, and not some in a watchwinder, others in a watch box and the rest in a cabinet or drawer. That's the exact moment to consider a bigger watchwinder for 4, 6 or maybe even 8 automatic watches. 

If you have only a few automatic watches a single or double watchwinder will do the trick. But when you have more than a few automatic watches we strongly advise to purchase a bigger watchwinder. It's more practical, more safe and is a beautiful sight when all watches do rotate. In fact it's mostly even cheaper than multiple single watchwinders. 

Of course there are also disadvantages. You cannot take a big watchwinder with you at a trip or business travel. You also need to choose the exact watchwinder which fits into your interiour, in terms of material, size and color. A single watchwinder does fit everywhere and won't be irritating, but a bigger watchwinder will when it's not matching it's background. 

If you have a few automatic watches, just stick to a single or double watchwinder and hope you can resist the tempation of buying new automatic watches. But if the flesh is weak there are so many beautiful big watchwinders which are real eye catchers! It will definitely impress your friends:)