List of Best Watch Winders for Automatic Watches

 List of Best Watch Winders

So here is what I think are the best watch winders based on price, functionality, reliability. We will start from the best to worst. Feel free to comment if you wish. There are 100's of models out there but these are the ones that seem to be the most searched online.

1. Versa watch winders

Nice selection of watch winders at a very affordable price. These are the #1 brand on Amazon with ton of reviews. The winders are not the most expensive but who cares. All winders are made to wind your watch by turning. I don't think it should cost too much money to do this. Save your money and buy a cheap watch winder and you will have more money to spend on your next watch.

 Pros:

• Very affordable watch winders
• Nice modern design
• Custom settings for turns per day and direction
• Japanese motors are used

Cons:

• Some models are made of plastic if that bothers you but for the price you cant complain. They do have some new models made of wood now.
• No battery operated models available

2.  Elma

Watch winders are made in Germany. The motor and design are nice. They make all the internals for Buben and Zorweg which is another high end brand.

Pros:

• Very well designed watch winders with high quality motor design

Cons:

• Lack of designs and a bit outdated
• Not many resellers in USA

3. Heiden watch winders

This brand is a mid level watch winder brand. They have been around for over 10 yrs. They have a lot of selection and colors to choose from.

Pros:

• Price is very reasonable with a full one year warranty
• Nice selection of designs
• Plenty of settings for direction and turns per day so you can custom set you watch winder

Cons:

• Not all models are dual powered for batteries or plug in

 4. Orbita

Made in USA, these winders are considered the one of the original makers of watch winders. Silent motors so you can sleep with them in your room. Models are a bit old school and outdated.

 Pros:

• Well made products

Cons:

• Price a bit high
• Lack of custom settings

5. Origin Times

If money is no object and you really want a watch winder that is unique. Check out Origin Times watch winders.  Load your watched in a Bugatti Veyron engine block or wrap your watch around you own little oil rig. It will set you back about $120,000.00 but its worth it!

Pros:

• Very unique and over the top designs. Perfect for all you millionaires!

Cons:

• Price. I wish I could afford it

6. Scatola del Tempo

Made in Italy. These watch winders are very pricey. I dont think people should spend $1000 for a single watch winder. Even if your watch costs $10K or more, a watch winder no matter what its made of or where it came from shouldn't cost this much. Save your money and you can get another nice watch for your collection

Pros:

• Very nice luxury watch winders and well built

Cons:

• Most models only have one setting for turns per day.
• Cost is very high
• Designs are bit outdated

 7. Swiss Kubik

These are really nice watch winders. Made in Germany. They very modular and compact in design. The cube design looks sleek and very modern. The reason why I am not putting this winder at the top of the ranks is because they made it a hassle to set the winder settings. You have to use a USB cable, connect it to your computer and set the programming modes. This is a pain if you have more than one watch that requires different settings. It does come pre-programmed from the factory but at 1900 turns might be a bit overkill for some watches.

Pros:

• Very cool and modern design
• Compact design
• Lasts up to 3 yrs using lithium batteries on the lowest settings

Cons:

• Price. Its about $800 for a single winder model.
• Inconvenient to program the winder
• Wish the front cover was closed to protect the watch from dust
• You can hear the gears turn when on so don't leave it by your bed at night.

8. Wolf Watch Winders

Wolf watch winders are very well known for people who own automatic watches and watch winders. They are considered the mid to upper end of watch winders based on prices. The leather is not real leather but a faux leather and they are made in China! For these prices, it should be made in Europe or USA.

Pros:

• Lot of designs to choose from
• Nice packaging
• Works well but not perfect
• Motor is loud

Cons:

• Price. Its made in China but the price is very high
• Fake leather and they box is made of cardboard or thick paper because the leather winder does flex. It is not wood.
• Wood grain boxes are not real wood but a laminate or veneer.

9.  Steinhausen Watch Winders

Steinhausen watch winders have been around for several years. They use to be decently priced. The one you see in the picture use to cost $90.00 but now, they cost $360.00 (yes Im not joking). Why do they cost so much you might ask. Its because they thought by offering a lifetime warranty, they can mark up the price. Just so you know, the one pictured, its not real burlwood, its PLASTIC and Made in China!

Pros:

• Lots of new designs

Cons:

• Price is ridiculous for the quality and type of materials used on their watch winders
• Cheap materials used

10.  Generic Watch Winders

You will see a lot of these winders sold on various websites such as Ebay and others under various brands or no brand at all. These go for about $50-60. Yes they are cheap in price but there is a reason. They use cheap motors and electronics and usually only have one or two settings which will turn in bi-directional or will turn constantly.

Pros:

• Price - Very low in price. But you will realize, you get what you pay for. 
• Lots of storage space for your watches.

Cons:

• You get what you pay for. Cheap Chinese motors and electronics that will fail within weeks or months.
• No warranty. Your new watch winder will be a cheap looking watch box in less than 6 months.
• Never buy a watch winder that holds two watches on each motor. Most people have a variety of watches and sizes and when you place them in this watch winder, you will notice your watches will touch or rub against each other while its on. This is BAD for your watches because you might ruin your expensive timepiece.
• Not enough settings. Nowadays, you can easily find a decently priced watch winder that will have multiple settings for direction and lengths of time it turns.

What is a watch winder? How does a watch winder work?

I wanted to give you some information on what a watch winder is and how it works with your automatic watch. Ive had the chance to review a few different models using my collection of watches. I hope this will help you in your decision making on purchasing a watch winder.

Q. What is an automatic watch? 
A. An automatic or self winding watch is one that does not require batteries but maintains time by wearing the watch as you swing your arm or manually turning the crown of the watch which winds the main spring in the watch.

Here is a picture of some automatic watches.

There are many different brands and models of automatic. Most popular of all automatic watches seem to be Rolex watches. I personally own 2 Rolex watches and I know my friends and family members who also own Rolex watches as well.

There seems to be hundreds if not thousands of brands and models of automatic watches such as Breitling, Panerai, Tag Heuer, and more. It seems like every brand from the lower end Fossil watches to very expensive brands all have a line of automatic watches. I personally think they are classy and look much nicer than the battery operated quartz watches.

So Ive had the chance to use a few different watch winders and will give you some pointers on how to properly use your watch winder.

Step 1: Manually turn the crown of your watch 20-30 times. 

A watch winder will not wind a dead watch but will only maintain it. So if your watch is not running and you just simply shake it a few times in your hand, this will not be enough to keep your watch running while placed in the watch winder. If you are not sure where the crown is on your watch, please see the picture below. Its the middle knob that is usually at the side of the watch. You will have to either unscrew the crown or just pull it out. When manually turning the crown, you will be able to feel as if you are turning gears inside your watch.

Step 2: Place the watch around the watch pillow.

If you have a steel, leather or rubber watch band, make sure to open it up and then wrap it around the pillow. Sometimes a watch pillow may be too large in size and will not work for your watches because you have small wrists. What I would suggest is getting balled up piece of cloth or foam and use it in place of the watch pillow. Just make sure that the watch sits securely inside the watch winder and does not jiggle inside.

Step 3: Place the watch inside the watch winder.

You want to make sure when you place the watch and pillow into the watch winder, is the face of the watch is placed at the center of the holder and at the similar angle. If the watch face is placed too high or low, then your watch winder, may have problems properly winding your watch and may possible damage the motor. Most watch winders have single center metal tip that attaches the holder to the actual motor, so its best you do your best to place the watch in the center as possible.

Step 4: Setting your watch winder.

Depending on your watch winder, you should have multiple settings which you will be able to control the direction of the winder. The directions would be Clockwise, Counter-Clockwise and Bi-Directional. Most good quality watch winders will allow you to set the TPD (turns per day) and direction. Depending on your watch and mechanism inside your watch, you will require to set it to a certain direction. Most automatic watches such as Rolex watches require a bi-directional setting. Most watch manufacturers require the watch to be wound at least at a 850 - 1200 TPD. Most watch winder will have these settings but sometimes you will see some watch winder that have up to over 2000+ TPD's. I dont think you should be too worried about this and think that your watch would over wind and get damaged. Nowadays automatic watches are built with a clutch mechanism that prevents over winding so there is no need to worry.

Most automatic watches will stop running after 1-2 days, so test each setting and direction to find the right setting for you. Don't worry, you will not harm your watch by setting it to the wrong setting. Just make sure you start with Step 1 and follow the step to find the best setting for your automatic watches.

Here are some pictures of various models of watch winders and their switch designs. They may all look different but all pretty much have the same function.

My Thoughts on Some Watch Winders:

Generic Made in China Watch Winder

Pros: 

• Nice low cost. Prices vary but you can find a cheap winder from $50-100.00
• Quiet motor
• Nice wood veneer finish
  

Cons:

• Cheap quality motor. Will die out on you within 1-3 months. Maybe 6 months if you are lucky
• No warranty. Once your winder dies, you will have to buy a new one
• No way to get it serviced or repaired.

Overall:
Stay away from these watch winders that have no brand name or warranty. Most watch winders are made in China but its the quality of the case and motor that is important. Good quality watch winders will use Japanese motors or even swiss made motors.

Belocia Watch Winders

Pros:

• Very low cost. This model costs around $60 and you can find single watch winders for around $40
• Compact in size

 Cons:

• Cheap quality plastic watch winder. If I own a $5-10K automatic watch, I dont want to use a plastic watch winder.
• No soft cloth lining. You are putting your watch into a plastic winder which may scratch your finish on your band.
• No warranty is offered. Once its dead, you will have to buy a new one. But since the cost is so cheap, I guess some people may not care.
• Since its plastic, the sound of the motors seem to be louder than other models

Overall:
This winder will do the job to wind your automatic watches but I personally wouldn't want to put my expensive watches into a piece of plastic. If it were lined with cloth or felt, then I think it would be okay. But without a warranty, you will be forced to buy a new watch winder eventually.

 Steinhausen Watch Winder

Pros:

• Price is not bad. This model is about $70 for a dual winder. Models usually range from $70 to $400 for quad winders.
• One year warranty offered

Cons:

• Not real wood as they say in the description but its just plastic.
• Watch winders will constantly break down within the year period
• Very difficult to reach a customer service person to assist you in warranty service
• China made motor so it won't last long

Overall:
This brand use to be very popular several years back but in recent years, the brand has suffered due to poor workmanship and customer service. I think you can find a better quality watch winder somewhere else.


Heiden Watch Winder

Pros:

• Nice Designs
• One year warranty. If you send it in, they will usually repair or replace with a new model
• Japanese motor used.
• Good Prices. Usually you can get a single watch winder for $79 to $199 for a quad winder

Cons:

• Battery operated models last 1-3 months. Wish they lasted longer but not a big deal if you plug it into an outlet
• Certain watch winder models go out of stock pretty quickly so sometimes you have to wait months

Overall:
A good quality watch winder brand that has been around a few years. Nice quality winders and motors.

Eilux Watch Winder

Pros:

• Nice design. They use genuine leather.
• Nice and quiet motor. They use Japanese motors
• Good quality materials used to make the winder
• Battery life is about 8 - 12 months

Cons:

• Slightly more expensive in cost but you are getting real leather
• Not many designs to choose from.
• Service is pretty good, you can send it in to a US distributor to get it serviced

Overall:
Eilux watch winders has been around several years and they have built a nice reputation for good quality winders. These watch winders may cost more, but definitely worth it in the long run.


Orbita Sparta Watch Winder

Pros:

• Well made watch winder with 5 yr warranty
• Nice simple design

Cons:

• High price. This model costs around $370.00 for single watch winder
• Prices keep climbing if you decide to buy double, quad, etc.

Overall:
Nice watch winder, but I think with all the models now available at a lower cost, save your money and get a cheaper winder and add a new automatic watch to your collection!