Since our visit at Benson watchwinders in december 2013 we follow this brand with interest. This Dutch company is a growing player on the watchwinder market and did surprise us with beautiful and mostly clever watchwinders which are suitable for any automatic watch. 

On the internet we see other reviews (we wrote one: review) by watch enthusiasts which are positive too about the watchwinders Benson produces. It's nice to see a relatively small brand is growing this fast, and making improvements which results in better watchwinders. 

We thought it's time to call Benson watchwinders and ask for their expectations for 2015. The first news is that the brand will launch a new series in April. This new series contains 4 watchwinder models for 2, 4, 6 and 8 watches. The design will be modern and there are more details which will give the watchwinders an appealing look.

The price level will go up too, as the new series do have the most modern technique. For example new improved motors, LCD display & control panel and LED backlight. 

Benson watchwinders informed us also that they will expand business with appointing distributors worldwide. Different companies did contact Benson watchwinder to explore the possibilities for a distributorship. In our opinion that's good news, as there is only a limited quantity of dealers right now, and more dealers in several countries would make a Benson watchwinder more easy to buy.

When the new series is available we love to test it and write about it in this blog.

We would like to thank you all for visiting our Watchwinder Blog. We hope you enjoyed our articles and reviews in 2014. The success of our blog depends from you, the watchwinder enthusiasts. We enjoyed your emails with hints, questions and remarks. The new year 2015 will bring a lot of news about the famous watchwinder brands and new technique, styles and models. 

But the most important; we wish you a great Christmas with family and/or friends! We are looking forward to 2015 and hope it will be another successful year!

Watchwinders do have all kind of specific functions to wind automatic watches with the result that they keep running. One of these functions is to select the TPD (turns per day). This is the number of turns of the turntable (or rotor) that is required every 24 hours to keep the automatic watch wound. The exact movement brand and type (for example: Miyota 9015 or Sellita SW200) inside the watch determines the required TPD. There are differences between the movements which result in differences in required TPD.

Most automatic watches require a 600 to 1000 TPD. Nevertheless there are other watches which need a higher TPD, for example 1200 to 1900 TPD. A good watchwinder will offer a function to select the specific TPD manually. Therefore you can choose the required TPD for your specific automatic watch(es). Thereby all good watchwinders suitable for more than one automatic watch, offer the TPD function for all turntables individually. In case you have two or three different automatic watches with different required TPD you can set the exact TPD per turntable, so all watches are wound perfectly. 

It really depends on the watch which TPD is the best to select. If you're not sure, don't hesitate to ask the watch brand or salespoint where you bought the watch. There are also lists available on the internet where you can find a specific watch and its matching TPD. 

An important remark: please don't worry about a too high number of TPD (for example 1500 TPD when you watch require 1000 TPD), every modern watch has an overwind protection by a built-in slipping system

Last week we met Paul Chen, the CEO of Paul Design watchwinders in Guangzhou, China. During our nice Chinese lunch Paul did tell us about his watchwinder brand, its filosofy and future plans. First we give you a short introduction about this brand. Paul Design is created by Paul Chen who worked for a company which import brands as Buben & Zörweg and Scatola del Tempo. Therefore he gained a lot of experience in the field of technique, materials and finishing. He now uses this experience for his own successful watchwinder brand; Paul Design.

Watchwinders made of high-end materials

Paul learned that a successful brand must offer perfect quality to penetrate in the current market of watchwinders. The competition is strong with brands from Europe. Nevertheless there is a gap between the cheap Chinese watchwinders and the high-end European watchwinders like Stockinger, Elma, Buben & Zörweg etc etc. This gap Paul wants to fill with his own brand of watchwinders. When we take a look at the Paul Design watchwinders we must say that we are surprised positively. The design looks great, the materials are solid and beautiful. Thereby the technique is state of the art. 

Future plans for Paul Design watchwinders

We asked Paul what to expect the coming years from his watchwinder brand. The answer is simple: produce high end watchwinders for an acceptable price. Quality is one of the most important elements to have happy clients. Next to quality is innovation. Innovation is important to offer the best functions to wind all automatic watches. Parts as motors, gearing and the control panel are the most important and need continious innovation to keep up with the high end brands. 

We expect a lot from Paul, as he is a smart and experienced guy with a feeling to create beautiful watchwinders. Paul, thank you for the nice Chinese lunch and our nice conversation! 

When you have a great watch collection with beautiful automatic watches you want the watches to be safe inside the watchwinder. One of the most important parts of the watchwinder is the watch holder. The watch holder is important because it's the direct connection between the watch and the watchwinder itself. There are several systems available and the exact system depends on the brand. 

Pillow

Many watchwinders have a pillow system which is easy to use and suitable for many watches as the size and form of the pillow can be adjusted by pressing it. Nevertheless pillow do wear easily as they are made of common fabric. There are also foam pillows available which are better in use and more durable. 

In our opinion pillows are not the best watch holding system as they cannot be fixed in the watchwinder. In other words, they can fall out easily when not put in carefully. If you put in the pillow with care they won't fall out, especially when the watchwinder has turntables in a more horizontal direction. But in a watchwinder with vertical turntables the question is if you're willing to take the risk with your watches. 

Plug watch holder

A watch holder which you can plug into the watchwinder is our favorite. This system is mostly a plastic holder with velvet which has a spring to adjust the exact wrist size. Thereby it has a click system to fix the watch holder inside the watchwinder. When the watch holder including the watch is placed inside the watchwinder it cannot fall out. Especially for watchwinders with vertical turntables this is the best option. 

When you're interested to buy a watchwinder we advise you to buy a watchwinder with a plug watch holder which can be fixed. It's more safe for your watches and easy to work with.