Juan Perkins
The watch case with winder does a splendid job of keeping my automatic/Seiko Kinetic watches wound and running. It’s rather stylish and fits in nearly any decor. It looks and functions like a nicely made piece of furniture. The front glass door closes with a magnetic latch and is fairly solid when it shuts - it doesn’t feel cheaply made or flimsy.I’m not entirely happy that the light switch has to be on for the winder mechanisms to run, but the light itself is fairly subtle; almost more decorative than functional, therefore not really bright enough to keep me up at night - it helps that I keep it on a low shelf, below my sight lines while I’m in bed. The motor is truly quiet - ambient noise in my room is louder; I’ve honestly not heard the motor run even once. If your hearing is better than mine, there is a setting that you can use whereby it runs for three hours out of twelve - yes, there are four selectable settings for how and when the motor runs.The left and center spinners operate together, while the right one is independent - has its own switch for mode selection. This is good; if you don’t have six automatics yet, you can leave the spinners you don’t yet need switched off. An imbalanced load (winding just one watch instead of two on a given spinner) doesn’t present a problem or impede the motor function in the least.The extra watch storage spaces are convenient. I think it would have been even more convenient to make the cushions in those spaces match the ones in the spinners, for easy watch swapping, but it’s not that big of a hassle to switch the cushions on a watch to get it wound up.One thing they didn’t mention is that the case comes with a few nice extras. There are large rings for the winder cushions, in case you have a huge wrist and need to secure a larger bracelet to the winder, there’s a lint-free polishing cloth and a nicely-sized brush with very soft bristles - I’m guessing the latter two are for keeping your watches clean and free of debris and dirt. They’re nice little extras that I wasn’t expecting but I’m glad to have.In short, it’s a great accessory for people who collect automatic watches and want to keep them ready for use while also not spending a fortune on something fancier. It does the job well. I thought of it like an investment - it’s not that much more expensive than getting a replacement capacitor for a Seiko Kinetic drive-powered watch, and it keeps all my automatics going.Before I bought this, I used to leave the other automatic watches stored with the crown pulled, to stop the mainspring from unwinding so the watch always had power and only needed to be reset to use it. I don’t recommend you do this: it leaves the delicate mechanical works inside exposed to the ambient air in your room, allowing moisture from humid air to degrade and destroy the watch components over time. Better to invest in a winder like this than pay for refurbishment and repairs.
