Last week we received a package from Austria, from Buben & Zörweg. Inside the package was their newest watch holder, which is now in all new Buben & Zörweg “Masterpiece” watchwinders (except the Phantom).

The new watch holder had a production time (research and development) of more than 2 ½ years and is suitable for self-winding watches with cases of up to 60mm in diameter. Thereby Buben & Zörweg did make sure watches with a big crown also fit the new watch holder. And that's great news for owners of an oversized IWC, Panarai or Breitling watch. 

It’s important that a watch holder is suitable for 99% of all watches. But most are not….Most watch holders are only suitable for an average watch. The watch holder from Buben & Zörweg can be tailored to the specific needs of smaller mens and ladies wrists, which makes them suitable for almost every automatic watch. The new watch holder is available in black or camel brown velour and black leather. But it's also possible to customize your own watch holder for example in white or red leather. 

Another great advantage the new watch holder from Buben & Zörweg has to offer is the “click system”, a safety catch mechanism. When you put the watch holder inside the watchwinder the “click” sound tells you that the watch holder is in the right position. Thereby the watch holder is now fixed in the watchwinder and can’t fall out (like pillows). This means the automatic watches are safe inside the Buben & Zörweg watchwinder. 

When we take a look at the watch holder we are enthusiastic about the solid construction and nice materials (hardened plastic with micro fiber material). Because it’s an important part of the watchwinder and used many times it’s important the construction and materials are very good. The flexible system works fluently and the finishing is of a high level. Buben & Zörweg made sure that their new watch holder is suitable for every day use and it also looks splendid. 

Earlier we wrote articles about the Paul Design watchwinders, and also tested the Paul Design Gentlemen 2+3. This watchwinder brand is in motion and developing their models, technique and design very fast.

Yesterday we received an email from Paul Design informing us about the new features in their newest watchwinder models which are available now. First of all they did introduce a new winding system by RPH (rotation per hour) which is very accurate. Most brands do have a TPD (turns per day) system which is a good system, but not as accurate as the new RPH launched by Paul Design.

Thereby Paul Design did produce a new control system that allows the user to control up to 16 rotors by just one control panel. Normally you can control up to 8 rotors individually by one control panel, but Paul Design achieved to extend it to 16 rotors. Therefore it’s more easy to control all settings for your automatic watches by one control panel, instead of 2 or even 3 panels.

We al know the problem that an automatic watch doesn’t exactly fit the watch holder. The watch holder is too big (small watches or lady watches) or too small (big watches). Paul Design found a solution for this problem; a watch holder which is designed to fit all sizes of watches, not only for men but also for ladies. Some brands already have this special watch holder, but there are also brands which only provide one watch holder suitable for 95% of all watches, or provide two different watch holders (like Spin-R watchwinders).

The new Paul Design watchwinders also have a new micro fiber material inside the watchwinder to prevent all watches from scratches. It’s a great soft material, looks fine and is protective for your watches.

It looks like Paul Design did a great job making their watchwinders even better! In November we will meet Paul Chen, the CEO of Paul Design watchwinders and interview him about his brand, technique and philosofy. We do look forward to it! 

Some watchwinder brands do have a little extra which makes it very interesting to follow them. One of these brands is Benson from the Netherlands. This Dutch brand produces watchwinders with an attractive price/quality ratio. Last year we already tested one of their Smart-Tech watchwinders and wrote a review about it. Therefore we are glad to see Benson did launch some new models in a very attractive price range. 

Benson Smart-Tech 3.14.DB and 6.14.DB watchwinders

The Smart-Tech series consist the top range watchwinders from Benson. These watchwinders do have all kinds of extras like touchscreen display, remote control and a start/stop system. The new Benson Smart-Tech 3.14.DB and 6.14.DB do have these specs too, but have improved motors and gearing. Thereby the design did change a bit and these new models are only available in dark brown paint. 

Instead of the current Smart-Tech watchwinders these new models do have their touchscreen inside the watchwinder. We must say that the dark brown paint is a great combination with the stainless steel feet. Also the glass door gives a perfect sight on the automatic watches turning around inside the watchwinder. 

It seems Benson is a brand which improves yearly and produces really good watchwinders for an interesting price, compared to other brands with the same or less specs. We already contacted Benson and asked if they can send a watchwinder for a complete review. Then we will write a new article about the new Benson Smart-Tech 3.14.DB or 6.14.DB and discuss the differences between the current models and these new models. 

If you're interested in the Benson watchwinders, take a look at their official website.

The watch and watchwinder industry is quite conservative which makes technical innovations very interesting, as they are quite rare. When we visited Baselworld at the beginning of this year we noticed that some watchwinder brands innovate with a new feature: watchwinders controlled by smartphones. A simple app allows the user to set all important settings of the watchwinder without touching the watchwinder itself. 

The nice thing is that these apps do have all watch winding specs for many automatic watches available instantly. This will make it far more easy for the user to set the exact settings his/her automatic watch(es) need. Spin-R from Hong Kong will introduce a new watchwinder with app control. It works with bluetooth connectivity. Spin-R produces modern watchwinders with attractive designs in several colors. The interesting prices do make this Asia brand very attractive for the starting watch collector. 

We hope this technical development will result in more interesting functions for watchwinders. We know that many brands work hard on these innovations and we are sure 2015 will be a year full of new gadgets, functions and innovations.

The question is; do you really need a app-controlled watchwinder? In our opinion it's a great feature but not absolutely necessary. It's handy and trendy and will attract a younger consumer which is used using his/her smartphone in daily life! The new Spin-R watchwinders are launched already at Baselworld and the Hong Kong watch fair (September 2014) and will be available soon!

Many watch enthusiasts talk about watchwinders as it's an important watch accessory for automatic watches. Some are negative about watchwinders, but most are very positive. The first group exists mostly of those who don't have a watchwinder, because those who have a watchwinder experienced how great this accessory is. 

In this article we will discuss multiple facts about watchwinders to give you a bit more background information. 

A watchwinder is handy for those who have one or more automatic watches

When you have more than one automatic watch you definitely know that it's absurdly to wind-up your watches every day to keep them running. Of course it's important that automatic watches keep in motion to lubricate the oil inside and keep the parts smoothly working together, but it's wasting time to do it all manually and you can wear only one! Therefore a watchwinder is a perfect solution. It keeps all automatic watches in motion in a safe environment, and you can pick the watch you want to wear without the obligation to wind the watch by hand and adjust the time, date and/or other functions. 

A watchwinder is good for the durability of your automatic watches

As we all know it's not good to drive a car once per year. A car needs to be in motion to keep all functions working. We can compare a car with an automatic watch. An automatic watch also needs motion to keep the oil inside the movement fluently distributed over the mechanical parts. What people often think is that a watchwinder rotates continuously, but that's not true. Almost all watchwinders do have programs which alternate rotation with a resting phase. The higher the number of turns per day (TPD) to smaller the resting phase. 

Modern automatic watches do have a "stress" protection inside the watch, to avoid too much stress to the movement. Thereby all modern watchwinders have a system that also avoid stress, by offering different programs (rotation vs resting phase). 

You can also think in terms of durability when you wind-up the watch by hand; you need to open the crown (to wind-up the movement) and adjust the time, date and/or other functions. This also results in wear, especially as the crown is one of the weakest parts of a watch. When you use a watchwinder you (almost) never have to pull out the crown and adjust the settings. 

A good watchwinder doesn't have to cost a lot of money! 

Please don't consider a Chinese watchwinder (= Chinese motor inside), as it's a waste of money. It will probably function less than one year, or starts making a lot of noice. A good watchwinder with for example Japanese Maibuchi motors will do the job. They are available from 99 euros (130 USD). Of course, when you want a special watchwinder with Swiss technique and a great design you need to have a bigger budget. Also when you have multiple watches to wind you need a bigger watchwinder, which results in a higher price.

Watchwinders are available in all kind of price ranges, materials, designs and colors. Just choose the watchwinder that fits your automatic watch collection and budget.