The importance of a good motor inside the watchwinder

In a car the motor is the heart which is the most important part of the car. In the world of watchwinders it's exactly the same. The motor, in combination with a gearbox, inside the watchwinder makes the watches turn around.

There are a lot of watchwinder brands using different technology and motors. Most brands are not really open about this topic, but for us consumers it's very important that we know which motor is inside a watchwinder. Because there are so many differences in quality, durability and sound level. 

Motors made in Asia

Most watchwinder brands in the lower price level do have a Chinese motor. In the beginning these motors do quite well, but on the long term the problems will be visible. Known defects are motors which completely stop, rotors which vibrate and increase of sound level. At the end a cheap watchwinder result in a loss of money. We certainly won't advise you to buy a watchwinder with a Chinese motor. 

Much better are the Mabuchi motors from Japan. Most reasonable priced watchwinders have one of those. The Mabuchi motors are known for their quality, durability and acceptable sound level. It's like Japanese cars, they do a very good job but are not the best. The Dutch watchwinder brand Benson and also Paul Design uses Mabuchi motors and both brands are popular brands on the watchwinder market.

For example Swiss Kubik uses Portescap which was a Swiss company but moved their production to India. The question is can they still obtain a high level of quality. The future will tell. At the moment the Swiss Kubik watchwinders are quite popular and our experiences with this brand are very good. 

Motors made in Switzerland and Germany

The best motors are coming from the EU. Especially Switzerland and Germany are famous and considered as the best. For example Buben & Zörweg uses Elma motors which are proven very reliable and are almost making no sound. Therefore these watchwinders are very good to use in a bedroom. 

There are a few watchwinder brands which use Faulhaber from Switzerland, but this brand is less known in the market. More known is Maxon which is one of the best producers of motors worldwide. Maxon is famous because they produce all kind of motors which are also used by NASA in their space projects. Maxon helped mankind to the moon. Maxon motors are used by Italian watchwinder brands as Underwood and Scatola del Tempo. 

It's not just the motor.....

Of course it's to simple to say the motor is the most important part of the watchwinder because there are more components which make or brake the watchwinder. Especially the gearbox is very important too. The level of sound of a watchwinder is mostly the result of the gearbox. Therefore there always must be a perfect combination of a reliable strong motor with a efficient and silent gearbox.