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.

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.