WA033

 

Who will need a watch winder?

Anyone who owns more than one piece of automatic watch would want a watch winder. Though it is not really necessary to wind a watch up to the minute, there is nothing as annoying as finding that your favorite watch has stopped and needs resetting before it can be worn. For complicated watches such as chronographs with day/date calendars, moon phases and more, resetting is a time-intensive hassle. If you own 3 or more watches, and wear usually only one of them, then a winder can save you a lot of time and headache. Otherwise, you would have to wind the watch up everytime you wear one.

Maintenance of a mechanical watch

Due to the precision nature of mechanical watches, it is important to keep the oils moving freely to ensure quality and long term performance. If the watch stops running, the lubricants in the watch stop flowing. Very soon, you have to re-oil the watch. You may have to overhaul a watch if it has not been used for a long period of time. The cost of overhauling an expensive watch is itself quite expensive. A winder would more than pay for itself if you consider the cost of the overhaul.

Turns Per Day (TPD)

How many turns a watch is required to be fully wound up? Actually, there are no set rules. An active person wearing a watch all day will wind the watch up faster than a sedentary person. Today, watch manufacturers would give recommendations as to the number of TPD. They usually fall within the range of 500 to 1,000 TPD. Every model and make is different. You have to consult with your manufacturer for details.

Here are some of the recommended TPD-

Audemars Piguet - 650
Auguste Reymond - 650
Baume & Mercier - 650 - 800
Bertolucci - 650
Blancplain - 650
Breguet - 500
Breitling - 650 - 800
Cartier - 650
Chase Durer - 650 - 800
Chopard - 650
Chonoswiss - 650 - 800
Corum - 650
Daniel Mink - 650
Dubey & Schaldenbrand - 650 - 800
Ebel - 650
ETA -650 - 800
Fortis - 650 - 800
Frederic Piquet - 800
Frederique Constant - 600
Hanhart - 650 - 800
Hublot - 650
IWC - 650 - 800
Jaeger Lecoutre - 650 - 900
Jean Marcel - 650 - 800
Maurice Lacroix - 650 - 800
Officine Panerai - 650 - 800
Omega - 650 - 800
Oris - 650 - 800
Patek Philipe - 650 - 800
Paul Picot - 650 - 800
Perrelet - 650
Piaget - 800
RGM - 650 - 800
Rolex - 650
Sothis - 650 - 800
Tag Heuer - 650 - 800
Tutima - 650 - 800
Ulysse Nardin - 650 - 800
Universal Geneve - 800
Waldan International - 500
Wenger - 800
Zenith - 650

We give only some of the more popular models. For other models not listed above, consult your manufacturer. In general, 500 TPD is the minimum and 1,000 TPD is the maximum.

Power Reserve

How long after a watch is wound up would it require another winding up? Most automatic watches have a short power reserve. You may need to wind the watch up everyday. Consult your manufacturer for the power reserve of your particular model. The Mecaquartz has a 50 - 60 day reserve when fully charged, so the watch requires winding only after 7 weeks of wearing.

Over-winding

Can a watch be over wound? In fact, there is no such thing as overwinding a watch. Watches are designed for active wear. Saying a watch can be overwound is really naive. Can an active sportsman wearing a watch all year round overwind his watch? Certainly not. All automatic watches have a built-in safety mechanism to prevent overwinding. The barrel spring slips in its housing.
However, if you wind the watch 24 hours a day for a few days, the mechanical parts of the watch may wear out. The barrel spring will wear. The ball bearings will wear. Other gears and parts will wear too.

Directions of rotation

There are 3 types of rotating directions: Clockwise only, counterclockwise only, or bi-directional winding. It all depends on the movement of the watch. You have to consult your dealer or manufacturer for the direction of winding of your particular watch. Most popular brands can wind both directions.

Features of a watch winder should have:

Watch winders range very widely in terms of prices and features. High end models made by Scatolo and Orbita have price ranges from US$395 to US$19,500. Today, many watch enthusiasts and collectors are middle income persons. They are looking for good value. Look for the following features when buying a watch winder:

Exterior Beauty:

Winders are 95% used at home to wind up watches that are not worn. It should look like a nice house furniture or ornament. Nice hand made wooden case has its traditional intrinsic value for its handicraft and beauty. It is really the enjoyment of owning a rich looking piece that yields the pleasure. Leather case has the advantage of not easily get scratched and durability. Plastic housing is durable but is more like a piece of regular electric equipment.

Movement:

The ideal winder should have wind watches in either one of the 3 sets of directions - clockwise, counterclockwise, alternating directions, so that all your different models of watches can be wound up. It should wind anywhere from 500 to 1000 TPD. It is nice that if you can set your own TPD but is not quite necessary.

Capacity:

The number of watches a winder can wind up at the same is usually proportional to its price. More motor units are required for multiple receptacles of watches. Therefore it all depends on the quantity of your collection.

Ease of Use:

The winder should be very easy to use. If a couple of buttons will take care of all your needs, that would be your perfect winder. Some winders require sophisticated settings of pins to arrive at your desired turns. It is fine with some really dedicated enthusiasts. For most people who do not have the patience or time to set the winder everytime for his watch collections, a simple to use winder is highly recommended. Ease of use will encourage higher frequency of use.

Power Supply:

The winder should be able to get both dry battery and wall electricity power sources.

Profitability for dealers and distributors:

Sales of a winder depends on prices, quality, features, delivery, services, marketing, finance and many considerations. Your must target the product to the correct customer groups. ERS watch winder will give you new avenues of profits.

Prices: in relation to the quality of the product, the prices are set to be extremely competitive. Suggested retail prices range anywhere from US$299 to $499. Estimated volume should be larger due to its lower retail pricings.

Target Markets:

(1) Watch Collectors & Enthusiasts - they typically buy their winders from specialized watch supply stores, watch stores, specialized web stores, or specialized mail order companies. Distribute through these channels will capture a ready market who are looking for a secondary winder or a winder for replacement. These people typically are current owner of a winder already.

(2) New collectors - first time buyer of a winder usually starts with a smaller budget. ERS winder would fit them perfectly.

(3) New channels - market through department stores, chain stores, gift shops and regular watch stores. A dedicated display may help.

(4) Watch Store promotions - Many watch stores have used ERS watch collection boxes (such as WC304, WC310 series) successfully in the past as promotion items to boost their watch sales. The winder box category will be their next target. One small watch chain with 3 stores in Hong Kong had used the watch collection boxes in their promotion marketing and sold 500 more high priced watches per month. They were extremely happy with the result as most branded watches have fixed pricings. The only way a store can get in more customers and referrals are by promotions such as giveaway a valuable item against specific purchases.

(5) Web Sites - offer the winders to newsgroups, dedicated sites such as "Timezone.com", etc. will certainly capture many new customers in particular those located in more remote locations or foreign countries. Market your sites through portals, direct emailings, press release to local newspapers, etc. will certain help.

How to service the winder in case of problem

As winder is made of mechanical, electronic and electrical parts. Some parts will wear out sooner or later. A pre-described warranty program to your customers is most important to avoid confusions. You must set your prices to cover the 1st year warranty. You have to determine who would pay for the freight and repair charges and their amounts.

ERS is considering a removable module where a serviceman can just remove an old module and replace by a new module. The external housing will remain unchanged. This is however still on the drawing board. The next generation may incorporate such features.

OTHER COMMENTS

If you have other comments and questions, please do email us. We value all feedback from customers, watch collectors and enthusiasts to make our products better and high value for you. Email to: info@ers.com.hk