There are watch winders in all kind of sizes, styles and price categories. But buying the right watch winder is not easy. Till now. In this blog article we inform you about what characteristics of a watch winder are important. Because we all want to have a watch winder which winds any automatic watch perfectly, is easy to use, looks good and is affordable.

Motor and gearbox

The most important parts of a watch winder are the motor and the gearbox. The motor and gearbox work together and makes sure the rotation of the cup with watch holder is smooth and the most silent as possible. It’s important to buy a watch winder with a good motor and gearbox. With a low quality motor and gearbox you can experience defects and an increase of the sound level. A durable motor and gearbox will last for years and make sure any automatic watch is wound. Good motors are made in Japan, Germany and Switzerland.

Materials and parts

Next to the motor and gearbox the use of materials and parts is important. The parts must be durable, strong and suitable to use every day. For example the watch holder and control panel must be reliable as you use both it a lot. The better the materials, the better the parts. We prefer watch winders with stainless steel, wooden exterior and glass. Wood absorps the sound and is durable. Glass is stronger than plastic and looks much better, and gives the watch winder a more luxe appearance. We see a lot of watch winder brands still using cheap materials. It all looks nice, but when you start using it you will notice the lack of quality and often these parts go defective. Sometimes these parts cannot be replaced or fixed. When there is no warranty left after 1 or 2 years…what can you do? It’s better to spend a little more money and make sure the watch winder is made of proper materials and durable parts.

Pricing

A watch winder is a device with a motor, gearbox and electronics. The exterior is made of wood, glass, metal or aluminium. All these parts and materials together must be a harmony to give years of pleasure of the watch winder. Therefore we advise to choose a good brand, durable motor and gearbox combination and of course a reliable seller which sells well know brands. Pricing is of course very important. The price of a watch winder depends on the motor and gearbox, materials and origin of the device. For example Swiss watch winders are mostly more expensive than watch winders made in Germany, Italy, US or China. Because of the Swiss made label. Are these Swiss watch winders better than watch winders made in these other countries? Not always. Also in these other countries they produce very good watch winders, even in China.

Please note that cheap watch winders mostly don’t give the pleasure you expect. Spending a bit more money is wise. We always say that you can buy a fine watch winder from 150 euro (single watch winder). When you want a watch winder with a bigger capacity then the price will automatically rise. Also when you prefer a watch winder made of very nice materials, which has a special design or is made by hand, the price will raise. Always ask the question; is my watch winder ment just for winding my watch(es) or do I need the watch winder also to be an eye catcher? An watch winder as eye catcher will always cost more….

One last advise; always buy at a watch winder specialist! 

For the third consecutive time, Buben & Zorweg has been awarded the prestigious German Brand Award, a competition organised by the German Brand Institute, a foundation that aims to strengthen the importance of German brands in the highly-competitive national and international markets.

This year's participation and remarkable prize attribution followed an extraordinary 2017 and 2018 when Buben & Zorweg also won the top award in the Luxury category for "Industry Excellence in Branding".

The continuous pursuit of excellence in design, craftsmanship, and cutting edge technological know-how was, thus, again recognised by the panel of 45 experts in brand management and brand science, who take it upon themselves every year to handle the difficult task of selecting the very best among the elite of global German brands.

Additionally, one must bear in mind that as well as last year, but this time in Munich, Buben & Zorweg was ranked 27th by Ernst & Young among the "Best 30 German Luxury Brands". A recognition that placed Buben & Zorweg alongside such world-renowned German brands as Montblanc, Porsche, BMW, Leica, A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte Original, Bulthaup, and Wempe.

So, will 2019 be another exceptional year of acknowledgement regarding the world leader and creator of inbuilt, multifunctional luxury safes and watch winders? The prize received this last 6th of June by the Head of International Marketing Michael Arnsteiner, and Florian vom Bruch, CEO of Buben & Zorweg, at the Berlin Telekom Hauptstadtrepräsentanz, is unequivocally a good omen!

Orbita is one of the watch winder brands we like a lot. They have passion for what they create and do. The brand has a positive reputation and many watch adepts love their Orbita watch winder. 

Founded by Chuck Agnoff in 1996 in Wilmington, North Carolina, Orbita is the leading producer and provider of premium watch winders in the world. While Orbita did not invent the mechanical exercising of watches, we did introduce a new, unprecedented level of quality. They began their endeavor by learning everything they could about mechanical watches, and then researched the gentlest way to wind them. From inception, the company philosophy has been to create products of lasting value and exceptional attention to detail, as well as products that people enjoy using. Important key values if you ask us.

When you travel a lot the Orbita Voyager watch winder is a great chouce. Orbita is the only watch winder company offering a winder of this kind. The Voyager uses the same unique mounting system employed on the Orbita Futura winders, and sets up easily wherever you are.

Automatic watches are designed to be worn, not stored and placed in a drawer. The lubricants used for these complex watch mechanisms tend to move away from critical surfaces when the watch is not “exercised”, causing wear when the watch is finally worn, which results in a loss of accuracy. A well-designed watch winder keeps unworn watches properly lubricated and ready to wear for any occasion. Needless to say, it also provides the owner with the convenience of not having to reset or adjust his or her watch after not being used for an extended period of time.

At Orbita they carefully select only the finest, timeless materials for their products, including handcrafted and detailed marquetry, the best grades of leather, sophisticated multi-layered lacquering, and the most modern carbon fibers. Orbita watch winders offer a lot of value for their money and therefore they are very popular.

In 2016 the Dutch watch winder brand Benson did launch their Black Series watch winders. This line of watch winders immediately became very popular and successful. With more than 250 resellers worldwide you can buy a Benson Black Series watch winder at high end jewellers and the better online watch winder shops. What makes the Benson Black Series watch winders so popular? This question is easy to answer for us....as we tested these watch winders for many months with several watches, from Tag Heuer, Seiko to Breitling. 

When we take a look at the Benson Black Series watch winders we see a very modern and stylish design. The materials are solid, functional and have a nice finish. The watch winders have a luxurious look and feel. When we take a look at the functions these watch winders are suitable to wind any automatic watch. The direction of rotation (right, left and alternate) can be set and also the number of revolutions per day (turns per day: TPD). This for each rotor individually, which allows you to set each winder exactly like the automatic watch demands. 

With the LED light you can create a perfect atmosphere to see the watches rotating. It's functional but mostly a feature which gives a nice look. The velvet inside the watch winders makes sure the watches cannot be scratched, they are perfectly safe inside. With the extra storage compartment you can store extra watches or even jewellery. 

The Benson Black Series watch winders are available for 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 automatic watches, and a few months ago Benson launched its Black Series Pro watch winders which are suitable to wind 12 and 16 watches. The nice thing is that these watch winders are available in different colours; black, white, macassar and carbon fibre. There are also two Limited Editions available, in brown and red colour (with padded leather on the outside). These last models are real eye catchers and limited at 250pc per model. 

All Benson Black Series watch winders are delivered with an universal adapter so you can use the watch winder worldwide. Thereby each watch winder comes with a manual, certificate and 2 years warranty. The prices are very acceptable and lower than any other watch winder brands offering the same quality. This makes the Benson Black Series watch winders a great choice. 

We enjoy our Benson Black Series watch winder everyday. It winds our automatic watches perfectly and the watch winder itself just looks great. In this price category it's the best watch winder available and we are looking forward to many new Benson watch winders to come. In our opinion Benson did a great job by producing high quality watch winders for a very reasonable price. Many consumers and retailers already know this as well, looking at the succes of the Benson Black Series watch winders. 

The watch winder brand Paul Design from the UK is one of the raising stars in the field of watch winders. The brand is original, produces good quality watch winders and has reasonable retail prices. Next to this the watch winders have a great functionality which makes it very easy to set each watch winder in combination with the automatic watches. All these aspects are important these days for a consumer. 

What we like most about Paul Design is that this UK based company produces high quality watch winders with a passion. This passion is to make it watch lovers more easy and offer a great product to wind and store his/her automatic watches. There are still brands which produce watch winders which are very expensive but offer low end technique, bad finish and noisy motors. The watch winders from Paul Design are the opposite, which makes them very popular. 

The Paul Design watch winders are sold by respectable shops and jewellers. Therefore warranty and good service is always offered. When you have several automatic watches but you don't want to shop in the price category of Buben & Zorweg, Stockinger or Kunstwinder then a Paul Design watch winder is a great choice. These watch winders do wind any automatic watch. The design and finish of these watch winders are very interesting, as it's a reflection of the passion of the brand. They don't want to offer just a watch winder, they want to offer a watch winder that the consumer enjoys and is a nice addition to the watches of the user. 

When you're looking for a well priced watch winder which offers great quality and functionality, then a Paul Design watch winder is the what you want to buy!