Jacob Osborn

10 Best Watch Winders: Orbital to Modular | Man of Many

FASHION
Like a great mechanical timepiece, you should be properly up to speed. Here are some of the best watch winders you can buy through Amazon or directly from the company website.

The Best Watch Winders

1. WOLF Single Watch Winder

With a heritage dating back nearly two centuries, WOLF are absolute masters of elegant watch accessories. It’s then no surprise that their single-watch winders come in many forms, all of which are known for their quiet performance and premium design. Choose between a variety of models and price points.
$259
Compact by design and economic in price, Barrington’s single-watch winders cover the basics with considerable panache. They display LED light when operating, run on quiet Japanese motors, and come available in a variety of striking colours. You can also connect multiple units via cable and use one power source between them.

2. Barrington Single Winder

The “EVOLUTION MKIII”—or Evo for short—is Rapport London’s best-selling watch winder and with good reason. Precision-crafted from wood with an eight-layer lacquer-coat finish and black leather cushion carrier, it’s a vessel fit for a Rolex or whatever luxury timepiece you can perch upon it. Each colourful cube features multiple controls and a three-direction setting.

3. Rapport Evo Single Watch Winder

4.  IFL Watches Orbit Winder

When only the most luxurious watch winder will suffice, look no further than the mighty Orbit from IFL. A world-first, each one combines tourbillon-like gyroscopic motion with traditional winding functionality to achieve stunning singularity. Between its brilliant performance and mesmerising appearance, this winder exists in a class of its own. And yes, it will cost you.
$1
Like the Barrington watch winder, this one from Aevitas gives you the ability to use simultaneous units through one power source. Thanks to a built-in sleep phase, the winder shuts down for nine hours and then starts back up the next day. Equal parts functional and affordable, it works on any type of automatic watch.

5. Aevitas Modular Stacking Watch Winder

6. JQueen Single Winder

Equipped with five unique modes, JQueen’s Single Watch Winder offers high-quality performance at a relatively low cost (which is even lower on Amazon). It runs on a recently upgraded Japanese Mabuchi motor and operates with all the more quietness as a result.
$140

7. IFL Watches Swiss KubiK Startbox

This premium winder is designed and manufactured in Switzerland, where they know a thing or two about watches. It takes the form of a perfect cube and runs on two 1.5 volt alkaline batteries, remaining completely autonomous for up the three years at a time.
$499

8. Versa Automatic Single Watch Winder

The practical vibes are strong on this automatic watch winder from Versa, which offers 12 different setting combinations. Under the skin is a steadfast Mabuchi Japanese motor, generating near-silent operation.
$60

9. BLAQ Watch Winder Box

Forged from 100% natural bamboo with an acrylic glass display and aluminium frame, this handcrafted winder can hold up to two watches at a time. It features adjustable cushions so as to accommodate automatic watches of different sizes and runs on an ultra-quiet Japanese motor.
$269

10. Bernard Favre Planet Winder

Definitely on the higher end in terms of price point, the Bernard Favre Planet Winder is easily one of the most astute and impressive watch winders on the market. The single Swiss-made winder arrives with a sandblasted aluminium base and features a double-axis movement that can be customised to your preference. In terms of winding, the Bernard Favre Planet can be adjusted to suit a number of different settings, with the unique glass bell cover providing some additional protection for your timepiece.
$2
Mechanical watches and their respective movements come with power reserves, denoting the amount of time that will pass before the watch itself stops operating. Traditionally, the wearer must turn the crown to vicariously wind the mainspring and thus bring the watch itself back to life. Adjusting the time and date—should there be a date complication—is typically part of this process. Whilst the watch is being worn, it uses the motion of the wrist to “self-wind,” thereby maintaining functionality without any additional effort from the wearer.

How Do Automatic Watches Work?

Winding the crown by hand is perhaps a slight inconvenience, but an inconvenience nevertheless. Enter the watch winder, which spares you the trouble. These electronic objects come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but their underlying function remains the same. Often taking the form of a box, it does exactly what the name would suggest, rotating your automatic watch so as to keep the mainspring wound when the piece is not in use. As a result, you don’t have to turn the crown and reset the date and time every time you take the same watch out for a proverbial spin.

What is a Watch Winder?

Most experts posit that watch winders aren’t really necessary, but there is one theory that argues otherwise. According to this theory, keeping your watch wound at all times prevents the internal lubricants from drying up or coagulating. When the lubricants dry up, it can increase friction and thereby damage the movement. If true—and that’s a big “if”— the theory is more applicable to vintage mechanical watches, which use outdated lubricants as opposed to the synthetic ones used today.

Why Use a Watch Winder?

Join our exclusive community