There are watchwinder brands which are really special. You can compare them with the status Ferrari and Porsche do have. These brands are unique and only use the best materials, most unique designs and best skilled craftsmen. One of these brands, and for sure market leader in the field of watchwinders, is Buben & Zörweg from Austria. 

Introduction of Buben & Zörweg

In 2015 Buben & Zörweg will celebrate two decades in the luxury watchwinder business. The company was founded in 1995 in Austria. First it focussed on producing high end watchwinders. Then they started to develop quality clocks (like Erwin Sattler) and now they create a combination of all demands a men has. The current products Buben & Zörweg produces are combinations of a watchwinder, a humidor, a safe and wine storage. Of course you can customize your "object of time" (as Buben & Zörweg calls it) according your own preferences. The sky is the limit. 

Our meeting at Baselworld with Buben & Zörweg

Buben & Zörweg did invite us to visit their booth at Baselworld. An invitation we accepted happily. We were also invited to visit their factory in Germany during Baselworld, but unfortunately we had some other appointments with other watchwinder brands. We hope we get the change to visit the factory in the future, because we heard it's something very special.

We visited the booth of Buben & Zörweg the previous years, so we knew what to expect. The booth is one complete showroom with the top products Buben & Zörweg has to offer. Soon we met Ms. Simone Stocker, the marketing specialist of this Austrian brand. She only worked two weeks for the brand but she informed us very well about all important things. The nice thing was that she didn't had a standard "marketing speach" about how great Buben & Zörweg is. She did comfort us and told in her own style about the history, the innovations and materials of the "objects of time". 

Soon we discovered the high end pieces Buben & Zörweg produces. We were allowed to test, touch and try all models which were present at the booth. Ms. Stocker did show us all functions and secret buttons some models do have. For example there are secret buttons which present a complete new board of turntables or a new storage room. All Buben & Zörweg watchwinders which do have a safe do have the VDS predicate, which means they are incredible well build to avoid theft. This is quite important when you store your expensive watches inside. 

Unique luxury for the happy few

A Buben & Zörweg watchwinder is not for anyone, they do cost a lot of money. For example the model build in cooperation with the famous car brand Aston Martin has a price of 200.000 euro. On the other hand you get a high end "object of time" which meets the highest standards and is build with the best materials and by skilled craftsmen. 

Thereby if you have a high value watch collection with brands as Rolex, Breguet, Patek and IWC it's also important to store it safe, in style and easily. If you have the money, why not use a great watchwinder of Buben & Zörweg? It's not only a watchwinder, it's a piece of furniture in your office, living room or bedroom. 

Visit here Buben & Zörweg to see their beautiful "objects of time". 

At Baselworld the new watchwinder brand Chronovision will be launched and presented to the public. This new brand is 100% made in Germany and offers high end watchwinders with unique technology and quality. Chronovision watchwinders are a perfect mix between supreme technology and exquisite materials.The first series of Chronovision is the "One".

We spoke with the CEO of Chronovision Mr. J. Heisse who told us about the background and technical specifications of the watchwinders. With several patents and trademarks Chronovision will attack the market position of brands as Swiss Kubik and Rapport London.

The unique system of the Chronovision watchwinders can communicate with other modules of the One series.The rotation direction and turns per day (TPD) can be set by USB and bluetooth via PC, MAC or smartphone. Extra options as a "sleeping mode" and "speed winding". The German motor and gearing assure a high quality technique which makes sure the watchwinder is completely silent, even when you wind heavy automatic watches.

The battery life will be around 2 years which is really long. At this moment only Swiss Kubik can meet this period. With three years warranty a Chronovision watchwinder is a good and safe choice for the automatic watch lover.

Retail prices are not available yet. After Baselworld the official retail prices will be communicated by this blog.

This time we review a watchwinder from the brand Paul Design. This new brand is launched by Paul Chen, a former technician who worked with brands as Buben & Zörweg, Swiss Kubik and Elma. With this experience he started to design and develop his own brand of watchwinders.

Paul Chen believes in high end quality combined with nice materials. Nevertheless he wants that his watchwinders are affordable and therefore available for every watch lover.

We received two watchwinders from Paul Design to test for a longer period. This is important because watchwinders need to prove themselves over a longer period. As we all know cheap Chinese watchwinders work great the first week, but after that they start making noise and have a high risk for defects.  

We choose to write a review about the Paul Design Gentlemen 2+3 watchwinder, in macassar style. It’s one of the most popular watchwinders in the collection and we know why.

Design                                                             

The consumer demands more and more, and therefore watchwinders must look good. It’s not only a accessory to provide energy to automatic watches, it’s more….

The Paul Design Gentlemen 2+3 is a small and compact watchwinder. The first impression is very good because of the nice shape and beautiful paint job. The macassar wood gives the watchwinder a very luxury look.

The watchwinder is divided into two parts; the lower section where two watches can be placed to provide them with energy and the upper section where the LCD panel and extra storage is for three watches. The lower section can be accessed by the glass door and the upper section has a wooden cover.

The inside of the watchwinder is covered by soft fabric which is well choosen, because it avoids scratches and marks on the watches.

Originality

The Gentlemen 2+3 does not look very special compared to watchwinders from brands as Origin Times or Döttling, but the shape is good and practical. The door and wooden cover on the top are original because it devides the watchwinder into two sections.

The macassar style on the outside of the watchwinder is very nice and gives the watchwinder a unique look. The watch holders do have the Paul Design logo and there is a little opening at the backside which allows the cable of the adapter fit perfectly into the watchwinder. These are small details, but these details do make a difference.

Quality

The Paul Design Gentlemen 2+3 watchwinders do use Japanese Maibuchi motors. Many other brands do use them and they are of good quality. The motors are almost silent which is important when you like to place the watchwinder next to your bed.

The Gentlemen 2+3 watchwinder was tested for two weeks and it was running without any problems. The build-in battery allows you to use the watchwinder without adapter. We tested the watchwinder with adapter and battery only. The battery did last for more than three weeks. The battery is charged by connecting the watchwinder with the adapter. It’s very easy to use and ideal to place the watchwinder into a safe or when you want to take the watchwinder with you on a trip or holiday. Nevertheless the watchwinder is not light, it’s quite heavy for it’s size because of the build-in battery.

The watchwinder has all common functions and will rotate clockwise, counter clockwise and alternate. Thereby you can select the exact TPD. Two special functions are “speed winding” and “sleep mode”. With the speedwinding function you can add energy very quickly to your automatic watches. The sleep model relaxes the watches. Both functions are not standard for every watchwinder and therefore a nice addition.

Finishing

Paul Chen proved he has a great eye for detail. The finishing of the Gentlemen 2+3 watchwinder is of a high level. The well done paint job in combination with the macassar style gives the watchwinder a beautiful look. The case is solid and feels heavy. The LCD panel is easy to use and the door and cover do open and close perfectly.

What we are missing is an inside LED light. It’s something many other brands do have, but it seems Paul Design did forget. It’s nice to see your watches rotating when it’s dark. On the other hand, the watchwinder is controlled by a LCD panel (with light) so an inside light is not necessary to control the watchwinder or see what you’re doing.

Price level

The Paul Design Gentlemen 2+3 watchwinders are available from 399,00 euro (incl. 21% VAT) and that’s a really fair price for a high end watchwinder with great details and solid construction. Other watchwinders from the Paul Design collection are a bit more expensive, but they can wind more watches. With Maibuchi motors, macassar style, special functions as speed winding and a sleep mode you get a well designed product for your 399,00 euro.

Conclusion

A watchwinder should be a handy accessory for those who have multiple automatic watches. We tested the Paul Design watchwinder for more than two weeks and our conclusion is that this Gentlemen 2+3 watchwinder is a great watchwinder for a really fair price. It’s a watchwinder which does what it should do; provide energy to automatic watches. The style, finishing and design are all well done which makes it a complete watchwinder for many years of fun! 

The worlds largest watch & jewellery fair, Baselworld, will be held from March 27th till April 3th in Basel, Switzerland. Of course we will attend the fair and visit all exhibitors related to watchwinders. Brands as Swiss Kubik, Buben & Zörweg, Elma, Rapport, Spin-R and Scatola del Tempo will present their newest watchwinder models. We are looking forward to see the new technique, materials and designs. 

We have been invited by some brands to take a closer look at the new watchwinders and get inside information about the filosophy and people behind the brand. 

Our expectations are very high for Buben & Zörweg as they present every year state of the art watchwinders in their beautiful booth. Thereby we are interested in Scatola del Tempo, as they claim they are the first manufacturer of watchwinders they should be able to present some special models which are handmade in Italy. 

Some weeks ago we wrote about Rapport watchwinders, our conclusion was that their current collection was a bit old-fashioned. We will take a look and find out if they did modernize their collection with new trendy watchwinders. 

Last years we saw Spin-R watchwinders presenting their colorful watchwinders with professional LCD display. We are curious if they improved and extended their current collection, as Spin-R is a nice brand with affordable watchwinders for people who are interested in a watchwinders but don't want to spend too much. 

There will be a lot to see and write about. We will let you know the latest news around Baselworld and find out which brands will be popular in 2014. 

You can buy them everywhere, Modalo watchwinders. The company BEIMA International is based in Germany and was founded in 2006. BEIMA is the owner of the Modalo brand, which was launched in 2007.

Modalo has a worldwide distribution network and is sold in more than 20 countries. A Modalo dealer is never far away.

When we take a look at the Modalo website it seems a well structured website with a lot of graphics. The watchwinders are presented well with good photos and clear information.

The Modalo watchwinders are made in China and therefore quite reasonable priced. Modalo gives two ears of warranty on their products.

On the internet the opinions about Modalo seems to be 50/50. Many owners of a Modalo watchwinder do like the luxury design and affordable price. On the other hand we see quite some negative experiences from owners who have troubles with the motors and complain about the increasing sound. Nevertheless it's hard to judge a brand on these experiences.

The experiences are mostly from 1-2 years ago. We are sure Modalo improved it's quality like most watchwinder brands do. The most important factor is using high quality motors, as most problems with a watchwinder are motor related.

We asked some official Modalo dealers and they are quite happy with the brand. Though, some complained about the fact that Modalo is sold on Ebay. It won't improve the exclusivity and brand reputation of Modalo. It's the reason many watchwinder brands don't allow their official dealers to sell on Ebay.

In the lower price class Modalo could be a good watchwinder to start with. If you're looking for a bit more quality and reliability you have to spend more money. We will follow Modalo watchwinders and test some of their products in the nearby future.