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.

The watchwinder as tool for a watch collection gains more and more popularity. A watchwinder is not only very handy to keep your automatic watches running, it also is a nice accessory in the living room, bedroom or office. There is a lot to choose and many watchwinder brands do offer great watchwinders which will wind up your watches without a hitch. 

When you are interested in a watchwinder for your automatic watches there are some questions you have to ask yourself. 

1) What should be the capacity of the watchwinder?

When you decide to buy a watchwinder it's important to know how many watches from you collection need a watchwinder. In other words, how many automatic watches do you have and which do you want to place in a watchwinder? 

There is no point in winding watches which you wear almost never. A watchwinder is handy when you have multiple watches which you wear regularly. 

2) What is my budget for a watchwinder? 

Do you have a huge watch collection with valuable watches then it's good to choose a high end watchwinder. Normally they offer more comfort, durable motors and a high level of finishing. Thereby it's nice that the watchwinder matches your watch collection in quality and charisma. Brands as Scatola del Tempo, Buben & Zörweg, Elma and Underwood are interesting. 

If you're looking for a good quality watchwinder but don't want to pay very much, there is a lot to choose. Brands as Heisse & Söhne, Wolf, Eilux, and Benson do offer a good price/quality ratio. 

If you just want to try a watchwinder and check out if it's something handy you use for a longer period you can buy a cheap Chinese watchwinder. They are cheap and not bad in the beginning, but you risk defects and noise when you use it longer than 1 year. But this a good option to get used to a watchwinder and don't spend to much money. If you're happy using a watchwinder you can improve by buying a better brand. 

3) Where do I buy a watchwinder?

There are so many online shops offering watchwinders. The problem is that many shops do offer only Chinese watchwinders. They say they are of great quality and the prices are attractive. Please note that these watchwinders are nice for the short term, but will have problems later on. 

In the US and Europe there are very good online shops which are official dealer of famous brands and do offer a wide variety of good watchwinders. There you can compare and select the watchwinder according your preferences. If you need help, just email them. A good watchwinder shop will give you advise which makes it more easy to buy the watchwinder you want. 

Unfortunately there are only a few jewelers offering watchwinders in their stores. They take too much space and the jeweler prefers to sell watches. Nevertheless the watchwinder is a populair accessory and underestimated by jewelers. Offering watchwinders will improve their sales and satisfy their clients. 

Conclusion; there is no perfect watchwinder. You have to think about your watch collection and your demands. Then choose a good watchwinder from a good shop with original brands, fair prices and good after-sales. 

Most watchwinders do look the same; a square box with winding technology inside. But there are watchwinders which do not follow the standard designs. Brands as Buben & Zörweg but also Origin Times do create special watchwinders based on a different theme. Bernard Favre is a person who likes to create extraordinary watchwinders too. 

Born in Neuchatel, the area of watchmakers he develops and produce items for the watch industry. It's a fact that Bernard Favre is a creative person as he is also a jazz drummer in his leisure time. 

Most of time he play to shape and combine different materials in his workshop. One day this brought him to a 3 dimensional spirit item that represent the planet with 3 rings. The following was a game of logical laws of physics and innovation. 

It took several years of cooperation with craftsmen from the watch making sector untill the unique watchwinder was ready; the "Planet" winding system. The watchwinder moves in several directions which is a spectacular sight.

It supplies the automatic watch with energy in a brilliant way. You can even connect a USB cable and set the direction and turns per day. It has all specifications a modern watchwinder should have.

Of course this watchwinder is not for everybody, but the real watch enthusiast will love this watchwinder. In the nearby future Bernard Favre will present new models based on the "Planet" model, suitable for more automatic watches. 

The Bernard Favre "Planet" watchwinder retailprice is 1'290 Swiss Franc, which is USD 1420 or 1050 Euro. All prices incl. VAT. It comes in a high end presentation case with USB cable, adapter, glass shell and travelling case. 

Many watchwinder brands do use modern technology and Eilux is one of the leading brands regarding technical innovation. The Eilux watchwinders do have a quite modern design with materials as steel, glass and leather. But the magic happens inside the watchwinder, with modern solid-state microprocessors which controls the super metal conductor engine. 

Eilux has some special features as super quiet operation, natural winding function, ultra long battery life and an anti-bacterial design. 

The most important quality of Eilux is that they offer their watchwinders for very reasonable prices. With a dealer network in more than 20 countries a Eilux watchwinder dealer is never far away.

Soon we will present a test review about one of the Eilux watchwinder models.