Do You Really Need a Watch Winder?

A watch winder is a small motorised box that keeps an automatic watch turning while you are not wearing it. They are popular gifts and they look great on a shelf. But do you actually need one? Usually not. Here is when it makes sense and when it doesn't.

What a winder does

An automatic watch winds itself as you move. Take it off for longer than its power reserve, typically 38 to 42 hours on the movements we use, and it stops. A winder rotates the watch so the rotor keeps the mainspring wound and the watch keeps running.

When a winder is worth it

• You rotate several automatic watches and don't want to reset the time and date every time you switch.
• Your watch has complications that are tedious to set, such as a moon phase, an annual calendar or a perpetual calendar.
• You simply enjoy it. That is a perfectly good reason.

When it is a waste of money

• You own one automatic watch and wear it most days. It winds itself on your wrist. If it stops over a weekend, a full hand wind of 30 to 40 turns and two minutes to set it does the same job. See how to wind and set an automatic watch.
• Your watch has only time and date. Resetting it takes less than a minute.

Is a winder bad for your watch?

Not if it is set up properly. The concern is extra wear: a watch that runs constantly is a watch whose parts and oils are always working. In practice, a watch on a winder does no more than a watch worn every day, and the service interval stays roughly the same. Letting a watch stop and restart is not harmful either. It is a matter of convenience, not watch health.

Two things do matter:

• Turns per day. Most automatics need roughly 650 to 1,000 turns a day. More is pointless: once the mainspring is full, a slipping clutch lets it slide. Check your movement's recommendation.
• Direction. Some movements wind in one direction only, others in both. The Sellita SW200-1 winds in both, so the bidirectional setting works.

Magnets in cheap winders

Every winder has a motor, and motors contain magnets. A well-designed winder shields them. A poorly made one can magnetise your watch, which makes it run fast. If your watch starts gaining minutes after a few days on a new winder, that is probably why. See automatic watch running fast.

The short answer

One watch worn often: you don't need a winder. Several automatics or a complicated calendar: a good winder, set to the right number of turns, is a genuine convenience.