Watchwinders: Take Charge of Time

Do you currently have your eyes on an automatic watch, or already have a watch case full of beautiful timepieces? Typically, such watches must be hand-wound every two or three days to ensure continuous operation.

So, what is a good Watchwinder and how do you determine its quality?

A Watchwinder is a powered device designed to keep automatic watches fully wound, eliminating the need for manual winding and resetting. Generally, a high-quality Watchwinder is considered an investment that will save you time and keep your collection of horological beauties ticking.

Many automatic watches not only keep time, but they also provide “complications” such as day and date (the calendar watch), or, in more sophisticated automatic watches, display month, year, leap-year, lunar phase, tide time, elapsed time, world time zones, etc. Naturally, each additional complication consumes spring power and further reduces the operating time between windings. Such watches, when fully unwound, must be reset in order to wear them.

The ORBITA Watchwinders employ a unique and safe design concept for watch winding. A solid-state microprocessor controls a DC gear motor, which is battery or AC powered and which intermittently drives a rotating cup. This may leave you wondering whether an automatic watch can be overwound? While this is a common misconception, it’s actually impossible. All automatic watches have a built-in slipping mechanism that prevents over-winding. However, this safety device should not be overstressed, as it will eventually wear out. ORBITA’s high-quality Watchwinders provide a time control to regulate the actual winding time cycles.

The “sleep period” is easily programmed by the user based on the make of the watch. Typically, the time controls turns per day (TPD) of 650 to 1300 TPD. This provides sufficient motion to keep the watch wound. ORBITA’s worldwide known Watch Database also provides you with the right TPDs for almost all watches. Aside from their luxury appearance, several unique features of ORBITA’s Watchwinders differentiate them from competitive winding products, making them fine pieces to showcase your beautiful watch collection.