Buying advice

Do I need a watch winder?

Probably not. A winder is a convenience, not a necessity. It's worth it for a few specific watches; for everything else, a routine does the same job for free.

What a winder does

An automatic watch winds itself from the motion of your wrist. Take it off and it runs for its power reserve, typically 38 to 80 hours, then stops. A winder is a motorised box that turns the watch so it never runs down.

When a winder is worth it

• Complicated calendars. A perpetual calendar, annual calendar or moonphase is fiddly to reset. Keeping it running saves real hassle.
• Three or more automatics in rotation that you want ready to wear at a moment's notice.
• Display. Some people simply enjoy it. That's a fine reason.

When it isn't

• You wear one or two watches most days.
• Your watches are hand-wound: a winder can't wind them at all.
• Your watches have long reserves (70 to 80 hours or more) that survive a weekend off the wrist.

Most watchmakers agree that letting a watch stop does it no harm; it will be serviced long before the oils matter. The real cost of a stopped watch is resetting it, and doing that carefully (mind the date).

What winders cost

Cheap single winders start around $20 to $90, but reviewers often warn about magnetised watches and noisy motors. Well-made ones from specialist makers run from several hundred to several thousand dollars, and the price climbs with every watch slot. If you do buy one, here are the TPD settings for each movement.

The free alternative

Most collectors use a rotation instead: wear the watch that will stop soonest, and wind the hand-wound ones on a schedule. The hard part is remembering which is which. That's what Watch Winder does: it tracks every watch's reserve, suggests what to wear next, and reminds you before anything stops.