Watch winders

[gaopa]

I am not wearing my Exp II enough to keep it wound. I have checked and there are winders available for reasonable prices. Do any of you have a thought on the subject? TIA, Bill P.

[waltk1026]

I have 2 winders, one I use to keep my Sub going so I don't have to keep reseting it. The other winder I don't use because I wear my other Rolex most of the time . I would get a winder only if your watch won't be worn and will stop. To me I wouldn't want to keep reseting the time not to mention the date. Others have said it only takes a few minutes. I guess that up to the individual.

[gaopa]

Thanks for the info. on your winder. Yes, I think I need one. Which one do you use and do you recommend it? TIA, Bill P.

[jbradley02]

Yes I would like to know which one you use as well, as mine will not be worn when I go to certain business trips, I want to come back with my watch and arm in same condition as when I left.

[BiG JeEzY]

If you want to buy a watch winder, my suggestion would definitely be the Orbita Sparta watch winder.

It is definitely one of the least expensive winders out there at about $200. It only uses 2 D Cell batteries to operate and new batteries have a life of about 2-3 years on the winder.

There is a 15 minute setting on the winder, just set it there and that is more than enough to power your ExpII. Every 15 minutes, it will swirl your watch a few times without a continuous oscillation, thus theres no way the watch can be damaged by overwinding.

Orbita has excellent costumer service as well and their winders come with a warranty.

[waltk1026]

I have a Orbita Sparta winder that my Ad gave me. That was the least he could do after selling me a DD. The Orbita I like, the watch is exposed, not that there is anything wrong with that but look on watchwinders.com I bought my first winder from that site. Model JFATW1 Escort One Watch Travel Winder- Rechargeable battery. Plug it in for a day and it goes for quite a while. The price in OCT 04 was only $95. It has a cover on it if you like that style better.

[gaopa]

After checking around a bit on the computer I found a good deal on ebay for a new Steinhausen dual kinetic winder for $69.95 and free shipping. I hope this proved to be a good decision, but if not, it was not a costly one! ;~) Cheers, Bill P.

[roadcarver]

I bought mine from eBay (non Orbita) for about $60 USD. It has three modes of winding.





Things to look out for:
(a) dual power source (battery and / or AC-DC adapter);
(b) Quiet motor
(c) Modes of winding, bi-directional, clockwise and counterwise.

[rocastro71]

I have a Steinhausen single watch winder to keep my GMT II wound all the time if I am not using it. I read a lot of reviews and most of them picks orbita #1 and Steinhausen #2. Very inexpensive compared to other good quality winders. The only drawback is that it's not battery operated, so you can't keep it in a safe. I bought mine from steinhausenovernight.com. You can also buy them from steinhausen.com itself direct.

[triton]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

im curious to know. there is only 2 motors right? are the motors independent of one another or otherwise?

[roadcarver]

Good question.. haven't opened it up.

Here's what I found... if I manually rotate one of the pods, the other will follow.

If I rotate one pod and hold the other, it will not force it to move.... possibly a clutch.

Now, I'm not sure still whether this particular model has two motors or one motor with a elaborate drive train.

Originally Posted by triton

im curious to know. there is only 2 motors right? are the motors independent of one another or otherwise?

[Paulie]

I received a non-leather Sharper Image single winder for x-mas last year. I love how it adjusts and locks in the watch so it doesn't go flying. And it's silent.

[triton]

with eilux winders, the double winders are dependent on one another aka, both will have the same setting. one cannot rotate one winder in a particular direction while the other is in another direction.

i prefer winders with separate motors as not all watches requires the same direction while place in winders

[SPACE-DWELLER]

IMHO, winders are really not necessary for ordinary automatic watches.

For automatics with a lot of complications, like for instance the perputal calendars from Patek, IWC and Jlc, the winders are handy, though, so that you do not have to set the full perpetual calendar every time you want to use the watch after having had it "resting".

[walds11]

I have an Eilux double and like it a lot.

Originally Posted by triton

with eilux winders, the double winders are dependent on one another aka, both will have the same setting. one cannot rotate one winder in a particular direction while the other is in another direction.

i prefer winders with separate motors as not all watches requires the same direction while place in winders

[blueface]

I got mine on e-bay also. There are so many listed you can usualy get what you want for well under $100.

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

I bought mine from eBay (non Orbita) for about $60 USD. It has three modes of winding.

Things to look out for:
(a) dual power source (battery and / or AC-DC adapter);
(b) Quiet motor
(c) Modes of winding, bi-directional, clockwise and counterwise.

Mine looks the same as yours, Vernon, and cost about the same from eBay. A winder might not be a necessity, but it's mighty convenient when you have half a dozen automatics and switch daily.

[gambit023]

I bought this one from SharperImage..it' on sale for $100 right now. It's simple and does the job.

http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/ca.../sku__SI314BLK

[rfbertran]

Just curious. My wife just had my 1987 Oyster Perpetual totally overhauled by a Rolex-certified technician. I purchased a winder from Brookstone which will either do clockwise or couterclockwise,but needs to be set accordingly. Which is preferable for a Rolex or does it matter? Thanks.

[Rockrolex]

Originally Posted by rfbertran

Just curious. My wife just had my 1987 Oyster Perpetual totally overhauled by a Rolex-certified technician. I purchased a winder from Brookstone which will either do clockwise or couterclockwise,but needs to be set accordingly. Which is preferable for a Rolex or does it matter? Thanks.

Rolex can wind either way, or both ways. Probably the bi-directional setting will be best.

[Rockrolex]

Heres' the same response I just gave on another thread on this subject.

I agree with the "it's convenient, but not necessary" crowd. Having said that, I have 9 autos and I keep 8 of them on winders at all times. Each of my watches has at least a date complication; some have more. I hate having to reset a watch each time I wear it, even if it's just the time and date. My Breitling Olympus takes about 5 minutes to reset when it stops (I try never to let that happen). I have three winders - an Alain LeBlanc triple, a Steinhausen quad, and an Underwood single. The Steinhausen is a piece of garbage. Mine limps along and only winds in one direction (it should be programmable, but that feature stopped working a long time ago). The Alain LeBlanc is a great winder; each winder is independently programmable and very quiet. The Underwood is not programmable, but is bi-directional and also extremely quiet.

Here's my set up.

[Solar]

Just out of curiosity...I'm looking through EBay for a winder, there are masses of the "red burlwood" for $60.00 which according to the descriptions "retail for $1200..." anyhoo, an ad for an Orbita states "Rolex owners have to check if this model is right for your watch..."

Is there a problem with buying a single directional winder, or does it have to be bi-directional? Can a winder hurt your/my Rolex?

Thanks troops,

Chris