Patricia Martinez
A common practice among watch collectors and enthusiasts alike is to obtain self winding automatic watches that fit a diverse lifestyle... Perhaps a dress watch, a dive watch, a GMT for those of you who travel regularly, or a beater watch that takes a beating and keeps on ticking.Regardless of your style, preferences, and collection of time pieces, a watch winder may save you from winding and resetting of your time piece as a result of the depletion of its manufacturer advertised power reserve and keeps the parts and their lubrication moving as often intended by their respective designers... This is likely the main reason you are reading this review!With so many winders and a wide range of prices, it is a challenging task to identify the appropriate winder for your particular collection. This is because self-winding automatic watches have different requirements for winding if you want to protect them and yourself from magnetism, over-winding, and over spending.There are a couple of watch winder brands that may satisfy a diverse set of needs, while offering desired benefits such as safety and a basic level of security for your watch. In this review, I aim to outline features desired by more experienced owners to help you decide if this is the right winder for you.Please keep in mind that these are my personal opinions based on a sample size of one, but these are educated opinions. Here are some pros and cons...To start, this winder offers an esthetically appealing design, combining dark piano wood and paint with highly stable and gripping feet. It is built solid and somewhat heavier than others I have experience with.It features a touch-screen LCD panel that controls top-of-the-line Japanese motors which operate independently - each capable of winding watches with specific requirements for turns per day as required by their specific movement. The Barrington website offers a comprehensive list of watches by manufacturer and movement, to help you protect your watch against excessive aging caused by over winding.Compared to most other watch winders I have experience with, this is the most silent one when the protective display door is closed. You have the ability to use a built-in finger print reader for slight added level of security, but the watch storage drawer is not protected by this mechanism.Standard size bracelets can sit relatively securely inside the winder using the provided pillows. The pillows do not seem like they would last a while... One of mine got nicked by my watch the first time I used it, but they have different styles of pillows.There is also a remote control that can operate the built-in LED lights, as well as each motor independently - a great idea if it actually worked properly. Some of the remote buttons are hyper sensitive and can trigger unexpectedly. It is not built like the rest of the unit and I have removed the batteries and put it away to stop it from disrupting the running programs. I will have to contact Barrington about that.And now for the pricing... Higher than I would like to pay, however, its feature set may support its price point depending on the type and requirement of the watches you own. For example, if you have a watch that is prone to magnetism, this is a good choice, however if you have an Omega watch that uses the 8500 series movement and is anti-magnetic, or a Rolex Milgauss, a cheaper winder with the appropriate turns per minute may do the job at half the price or even much less.THE VERDICT?-----------------Despite the frustrating experience with the remote control and higher price of ownership, the winder offers a pleasing solution for my needs and I would recommend it to those of you in search of a quiet and feature-rich winder that can handle the majority of automatic self-winding watches regardless of their price point and movement.Be advised that winders are designed for automatic self-winding watches that incorporate the "Automatic Winding Works" mechanism, leveraging a rotor that slowly winds a watch's mainspring - Kinetic watches do not usually benefit from the use of a watch winder.Happy winding!
