Kunstwinder

This is a pretty cool watch winder. It is the KUNSTWINDER watch winder. They are introducing their Industrial Collection with the Limited Edition Oil Baron watch winder. Why Oil Baron? Well just look at the winder and you can see why. 

The winder design replicates the mechanical movement of the famous horse head liquid pump used for pumping crude oil. Every time I see it, it reminds me of the TV Series Dallas. Oppsss showing my age. The winder is the product of a group of Professional Engineers who are trying to break into the watch winder market. And what a way to do it. 

As I mentioned earlier, the winder is a limited edition winder. As such, each winder is individually crafted and numbered. The winder can wind two watches and offers the following specifications:

1. Alternate winding, 30 minutes clockwise rotation, 4 hour rest, 30 minutes counter clockwise rotation, 4 hour rest.

2. 900 revolutions every 24 hours.

3. Continuous rotation.

4. Universal VAC adaptor

The winder also comes with felt-lined drawers for storing watches and accessories. The winder is not small. It measures 8.35 inches in height and 8.24 in diameter. The winder is expected to retail for about USD 3,600. 

A video showing how the winder works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcYFbVMbblk

For more information:

Kunstwinder

The winder.

It is a very nice looking winder.

Another view.

It comes in a beautiful box.

Photograph: Kunstwinder

My 2 watch winder

I recently acquired another 2 watch winder. This is a review of one of them. This is the 2 watch version of my 4 watch winder that I reviewed earlier. It is cheap at about USD 70. It is brand-less and got it from the same shop I got the 4 watch winder.

As you can see from the photographs below, the build quality is not that bad. It could be better. The body is made of plastic and finished to look like it is made of wood. The base is made of black plastic. The bottom is made of slip resistant rubber. There is 3 'cooling' holes at the base and 1 on the round body.

The winder itself is not big. It stands 6.5 inches tall and 4 inches wide. The base is 4 inches in diameter. It is smaller due to the fact that it is a 2 watch winder (compared to the 4 watch winder).

The winder is only powered from the mains and it is not universal. It uses 120V 50/60 HZ. It provides 5/6 RPM 3.8W dual rotation motor. To change the direction of rotation, the winder has to be switch off (via a red toggle switch) and wait 10 seconds. Switch it on again and it rotates the opposite direction. The interesting thing is that this winder winds slower as compared to the 4 watch winder. Also I found out that if there is resistance to the winding direction, the winder will stop and rotate the opposing direction.

The watches are held in place by spring tension of the watch mount. The mount itself is rubber lined (central section only) to prevent scratches to the watch case back. This is very useful if you have watches with display back as it will not scratch the crystal. I would not mount metal bracelet watches on this winder as the watch mount can scratch the inside of your bracelets.

It is very utilitarian in its look. It does look like something that would not be out of place in a Transformer movie. The watch mounts does provide a limited amount of adjustments. It can be adjusted slightly along the vertical and horizontal plane via the screws positioned all over the winder.

There are a few things that you have to be careful with when using this winder. The first is when mounting watches 42 mm and above. There is a possibility that the watch will hit the central mount screw head. Look at the first photograph. This is not a problem on the 4 watch winder. The other problem is when mounting watches with thick straps or bands. There is a possibility that the watch straps can rub against the body of the winder. As such, there is a need to ensure the straps do not rub against the body. Mounting the watch tighter helps.

Overall, for about USD 70, I think the 4 watch winder is a better option. It can wind 4 watches and can take 4 watches up to 46 mm in size. At the moment I am happy with the purchase, but I will be changing the winder head to the 4 watch version (the base is the same) once it is available. I have ordered the head and hope to get it soon. However, for those who do not have that many watches, the 2 watch version should do the work.

4 Watch Winder

This is my review of my cheap 4 watch winder. This winder cost about USD 75 and can wind 4 watches. It is brand-less and I purchase it from Formosa Watch Co. They are one of the largest watch chain shop in Taiwan. Actually, this watch winder is the same as the one the watch service department use to wind and test watches being serviced. As you can see from the photographs, the build quality is not that bad. It could be better. The body is made of plastic and finished to look like it is made of wood. The base is made of black plastic. The bottom is made of slip resistant rubber. There is 3 'cooling' holes at the base and 1 on the round body.

The winder itself is not big. It stands 8 inches tall and 7 inches wide. The base is 4 inches in diameter.

The winder is mains powered and it is not universal. It uses 120V 50/60 HZ. It provides 5/6 RPM 3.8W dual rotation motor. To change the direction of rotation, the winder has to be switch off (via a red toggle switch) and wait 10 seconds. Switch the winder on and it rotates the opposite direction. There is no provision for the winder to use batteries.

The watches are held in place by spring tension of the watch mount. The mount itself is rubber lined (central section only) to prevent scratches to the watch case back. This is very useful if you have watches with display back as it will not scratch the crystal. I have mounted watches up to 46 mm on the winder and it rotates with no problem. I would not mount metal bracelet watches on this winder as the watch mount can scratch the inside of your bracelets.

It is very utilitarian in its look. It does look like something that would not be out of place in a Transformer movie. The watch mounts does provide a limited amount of adjustments. It can be adjusted slightly along the vertical and horizontal plane via the screws positioned all over the winder.

Overall, for about USD 75, I cannot fault the winder. It can wind 4 watches and can take 4 watches up to 46 mm in size. It may not have the looks of more expensive winder but it does what it is suppose to do. It would be great if it had a universal powered motor and if the entire watch mount was rubber lined. But as it stands, it is great value for money.

BOXY Watch Winder

Well let us have a look at the watch winder I got over the weekend. It is called BOXY P-02B-C Acrylic Watch Winder. It is made in Taiwan by a company called ABEST Product Resourcing Inc. I believe they are based in Taichung. A picture of the product below.

It is a twin watch winder. Size: 20 x 14.5 x 18.5cm. It has a black velvet finish and can be powered by batteries or external power. What is great is that the external power supply is multi voltage and frequency, thus making it a world traveller.

Basically it looks like 2 winders mounted on a single base. Each winder can be powered and controlled individually (batteries) or via external power. The motor for the winder is from Japan. The cup is made from ABS plastic and is lined internally by velvet. The cup will hold watches up to 55mm. For those who are getting the recently launched Panerai PAM00341, which comes in at 60mm, well ....... The rotation is smooth and can rotate both ways, which is great for uni-direction wound movement.

The control panel is made of metal and is covered with velvet. On the panel are the controls for switching the winder on and off. The rocker switch on the lower left corner is to control direction of rotation. The red LED is to indicate low battery power.

The dip switch is to control the TPD (turns per day) and the interval. You can adjust the TPD between 650 to 3,600 TPD and the interval between 24 to 133 seconds.

Overall, I am happy with the watch winder. The workmanship of the winder is pretty good and offers what I think is good value for money. The winder cost about USD175 and is available from one of Taiwan's biggest chain of watch shop.