Welcome to Counterpoint, a series in which we challenge commonly held ideas about well-known products. This time: watch winders.
I’m a self-professed watch dork, but let me be the first to admit that an automatic mechanical watch is the spitting image of a gratuitous use of money. We all know nobody needs one — there are plenty of more convenient, affordable tools to tell time. But most watch dorks have more or less accepted that style, history and charm offer enough meaningful value to keep mechanical watchmaking alive. Even as somebody who loves watches, I must tell you that there’s something in the watch collecting sphere that surpasses the watch itself as an excessive use of cash: the Watch Winder.
A watch winder is a tabletop box (or, if you can afford it, a big-ass vault) that ever-so-gently rotates an automatic winding watch when it isn’t being worn to keep the mainspring wound and, in effect, the watch running. It’s also an overpriced, gaudy and (almost) wholly unnecessary device that masquerades as an essential tool in watch collecting. At its best, the watch winder offers minor convenience. At its worst, it actually harms your watch.
Some watch winder proponents often cite it as a maintenance precaution for time when your automatic watch is not on your wrist. The theory goes something like this: The lubricants inside your mechanical watch that reduce friction between its many moving parts will, if left dormant, become dried up or coagulate. This, in turn, could cause damage to the movement and, thus, the watch should be kept moving to avoid this degradation of your watch’s lubricating oils.
Courtesy
Hamilton’s Intra-Matic is a throwback to the classic American dress watch of yore.
SHOP PRE-OWNED
Seiko
Seiko absolutely nailed the balance between its vintage 62MAS diver and modern redesign.
SHOP PRE-OWNED
Yema
Yema offers just about the coolest racing chronographs you’ll find for the price.
SHOP PRE-OWNED
Tudor
Tudor’s Black Bay Fifty-Eight is the right size. It’s reasonably priced. It’s got an in-house movement. It’s beautiful. It’s perfect.
SHOP PRE-OWNED