Rapport was founded in 1898 when Maurice Rapport produced his first wristwatch and started his timepiece company. Nowadays Rapport only produces watchwinders and watch boxes to store watches. 

With more than 115 years of experience Rapport is one of the oldest companies, active in the field of watches, producing watchwinders. Since the 1980s designers of Rapport did create a blueprint for a range of watchwinders with advanced mechanics.

Last year we visited Baselworld and did take a look at the booth of Rapport. We spoke with Oliver Rapport (the director) and Brian Barton (sales manager). They welcomed us and gave us an introduction about Rapport watchwinders. We noticed they are very passionated about their products which is quite important. In this economic hard times it's important to believe in your brand and products.

Then we took a look at the current collection. We must compliment Rapport watchwinders with their design and finishing. The materials are beautiful and the design is luxury. Though, we noticed many models have the same design; classical. Only the new Evolution series has a more modern look but is only a small part from the total collection.

It seems Rapport watchwinders does focus on the traditional watch lover using a classical watchwinder. But in our opinion Rapport misses a big part of the watchwinder market, because many watch lovers prefer a more modern design. Brands as Wolf, Swiss Kubik and Eilux do produce modern watchwinders which are quite popular.

If you're interested in a more classical looking watchwinder, Rapport would be your choice. The watchwinders are beautiful, the technique is solid and the retailprices are fair. But don't waste your time if you're interested in a modern watchwinder, except the Evolution series Rapport has not much to choose.

We would welcome a more modern Rapport watchwinder series and are very curious about a design they would choose. Maybe Baselworld 2014 will bring more news.....

Watchwinder Blog wishes you a beautiful 2014! We hope this year will bring us innovations, news and interesting models in the field of watchwinders. This year started promising because many watchwinder brands do discount their watchwinders in the first period of the year. They want to sell out the old models and present their newest models in Basel at Baselworld (Switzerland) at the end of March.

Of course you will find here all latest news about these watchwinder brands and more background information about new watchwinders, technique, innovations and design. 

Are you interested in more information about watchwinders and their background? Then you will enjoy the review section of Watchwinder Blog. In our review section we will write about watchwinders which we tested. In our first review we write about the Benson Smart-Tech 8.13.B. Are you curious about what our conclusion is? Read the review here.....

In this first review we test the Benson Watchwinder 8.13.B. This watchwinder is a model of Benson Watchwinders, a relatively new brand from the Netherlands.

With more than 6 years experience Benson Watchwinders produces a mid range collection of watchwinders with focus on quality, details and an affordable price level.

In the Netherlands and Belgium they have a network of more than 20 official dealers, mostly jewelers. For a small brand this is quite special, even more when we consider that a jeweler his shop display space prefers to use for watches. Thereby there are some web shops selling Benson Watchwinders and ship worldwide. 

In the field of watchwinders more and more start-ups are successful because there is a big price gap between 100-600 euro. In this gap there is room for brands like Benson Watchwinders. Nevertheless consumers do demand a good watchwinder for a fair price. Consumers do focus more on quality products. And a watch fanatic respecting his automatic watch collection won’t buy a cheap watchwinder with Chinese motor.

It seems that Benson Watchwinders understand what the consumer wants; a well madewatchwinder for a fair price. Let’s take a closer look at the Smart-Tech 8.13.B, their flagship model.

Design

When we take a look at the design we think Benson Watchwinders did a great job. The design is quite modern and has nice lines. The watchwinder shape is rectangular but has slight curving edges creating a beautiful effect.

The glass doors allows us to have a great view on the automatic watches turning arround. The special lock fits into the design but is not a real lock to keep your watches safe against burglary. On top there is a touchscreen to set the watchwinder according your preferences. Benson Watchwinders did choose to have the touchscreen on the top because it’s easy to use and you don’t have to open the glass doors to adjust the settings.

The stainless steel feet give the watchwinder a more luxury style. In combination with the 12 layers of lacquer it gives the watchwinder class.  

Originality

In our opinion the watchwinder case is okay but nothing special. The modern look is nice, but not unique. But, the stainless steel feet in combination with the glass doors and touchscreen on top is really clever and more modern than what we have seen before in this price range.

The watchwinder can also be controlled by a remote control and this is a nice addition. It’s not an addition you really need to have, but it’s nice to set the watchwinder sitting on the couch with a beer in your hand.

Really nice to see is that when the watchwinder is stopped all rotors do stand still in the same position. It’s one of the nice features Benson Watchwinders offers in this flagship watchwinder.

If you like to take a good look at your automatic watches turning around in the watchwinder you can turn the LED lighting on. The blue LED’s provide a nice glow to add a bit more visibility as well asan beautiful apperance.

Quality

The Benson Smart-Tech 8.13.B watchwinder has Japanese Maibuchi motors which are proven reliable and used by many other brand

* We tested the watchwinder for more than one week. When the glass doors are closed you can’t hear the watchwinder at a distance of 15-20cm. The watchwinder is incredible silent and can be used in a bedroom without any problems.s. Therefore the motors are solid and durable. Benson Watchwinders claims that the motors are very silent over a long period.

The rotors do turn very smooth and without any shocks. The touchscreen and remote control are accurate and directly translates the instructions to the motors.

You can select directions as clockwise, counter clockwise and alternate. Thereby you can select the TPD (turns per day) to set the watchwinder exactly as you prefer. Each rotor can be selected and set individually. Therefore you can use any automatic watch in this watchwinder.

Finishing

In our opinion finishing is really important. There is no such disappointment when a product is not according that what you may expect of it. We think finishing separates the good watchwinders from the bad.

The finishing of the Benson Smart-Tech 8.13.B watchwinder is quite good. The watchwinder is made well according a clear production plan. The paint is really nice, the case is solid and the inside material is of good quality too. There is only one remark; we think the glass doors are quite heavy and therefore not that easy to use. On the other hand it’s reall glass and not plastic like many other brands use.

Price level

This Benson Watchwinder has an official retailprice of 799 euro approximately 1050 USD. For a watchwinder suitable for 8 automatic watches, including features as a touchscreen, glass doors, Maibuchi motors, remote control and modern stainless feet…..we think the price is more than fair compared to other brands.

Nevertheless maybe they can increase the warranty of 1 year to 2 years. I think many consumerswill like this and gives them a even more comfortable feeling.

Conclusion

We tested this watchwinder with great joy! It’s looking great, has nice functions and does operate silent. Thereby the watchwinder is easy to use and winds up all tested watches without any problems.

The Benson Smart-Tech 8.13.B watchwinder is a luxury watchwinder with great looks and fair price. 

The problem with automatic watches is that they lose energy when they are not worn. Without movement the power reserve will lose energy and the correct time settings are lost and need to be set again. To avoid this problem you can buy a watchwinder.

A watchwinder does turn around the watches to supply the movement with energy. You can buy watchwinders in different models/versions, but a good watchwinder does have special specifications.

Important parts: the motors

We advise to buy a watchwinder with good quality motors. Japanese or German motors are of great quality and do have enough power to turn around the most heavy automatic watches. Thereby a Japanese or German motor is more reliable and will be silent over a longer period. There are some interesting Chinese motors, especially because their prices are low, but on the long term they start making noise and there is a higher risk for defects.

Rotation

Next we would advise to buy a watchwinder which has several programs. Almost 95% of all automatic watches need to be rotated clockwise (CW) for optimal winding. A good watchwinder does have a clockwise and counter clockwise (CC) rotation function. Most watchwinder models do have CW, CC and alternate. In the alternate mode the watchwinder rotates first clockwise and then counter clockwise.

Adapter or battery?

Please also consider how you like to use your watchwinder. When it's placed in the bedroom, office or living room a regular power adapter will do. But if you need the watchwinder to be placed in a safe or you want to take it with you on a holiday or business trip, we would advise to choose a watchwinder with batteries. A combination of a power adapter and batteries is most useful.