When it comes to watch winders I never thought that I would need one. And never considered buying one as in my opinion they aren’t useful. I always can pick up my watch and shake it a little or wind up by the crown. Also, another detail that kind of threw me off was the price, they are quite expensive if you want one that is silent and looks good. And those were my thoughts for years until I an opportunity came from Barrington Watch Winders. They offered to send me one of their watch winders for review and I decided to check what is the fuss about them.
The Barrington Watch Winder Company was founded in 2009 in the UK. They observed that the watch winder market in the UK seemed polarised in two camps: on one hand you could buy a relatively cheap (and cheap-looking) winder on eBay that usually had limited features, or alternatively you could buy a Wolf winder or any other high-end winder that, while both functionally and aesthetically pleasing, might cost several hundred pounds. Why wasn’t it possible to have something that looked good and did everything you wanted at a reasonable price point? That is the question Barrington set out to answer. To forge this new product the skills of British design teams at Conka Design and Hoffi were brought to bear on the project. They basically started to make good quality watch winders that can be easily put on a shelf and looked good. After some years they also started to make double, four, six and twelve slot watch winders.
The watch winder that they sent me is the Single watch winder in crimson red, they also come in other colours (yellow, black, white, blue, green and orange). The winder came in a big cardboard box, the packaging was actually pretty good. Inside you get the winder, wall adapter, cable for attaching another winder (yes you can add multiple winders together) and instructions. The setup process was pretty straightforward, plug in the wall adapter turn the know on the back to the right rotation side (clockwise or counter-clockwise) and the second knob to the desired turns per 12 hours. Put the watch on the pillow and there it goes. When I decided to put it on my “hipster” Ikea shelf that is filled with tons of watch books and catalogues from all the years of my watch blogging, it actually looked like a piece of art. Many even commented that when I posted the picture you see as a thumbnail for this article.
Barrington’s Single Watch Winder really surprised about how a watch winder would look, sound and feel like — at a price of £125.00. The design is clean and simple and it fits any interior perfectly. The rectangular box design is not too big and not too small 11cm x 11cm x 15cm, with all of the controls positioned on the back of the winder. The Single Watch Winder has a glossy polyurethane finish which is pretty easy to dust/wipe down.
It is very easy to fit the watch on the spring-loaded tensioner. It dots wide range of bracelets and strap lenghts. Also, it will fit with no problem very big watches too (see, I did an Invicta joke :D). The great thing about this winder is that it has dual-power options: AC plugin (there is a small plugin/cord if you prefer this option) for most situations, or AA battery powered if cords are not your thing.
When I first turned on the winder, I was surprised at how quiet it is. Japan made motor is super quiet. Even when you sit in a quiet room you can’t hear it at all. I maybe hear it when sleeping, but not to a point where it annoys me. This was one of my turn off’s buying a watch winder in the past as I thought they are quite loud.
One thing that I couldn’t understand as in instructions there isn’t anything said about it. And by that I mean what those turns per day mean and those rotations settings do. The winder has multiple rotation settings: clockwise, counterclockwise or alternating and multiple turns per day (TPD) settings from 650, 750, 850, 1,000 or 1,950 to suit any weight of the watch. I know that for me it is easy, but for people who aren’t known to winders and how the automatic movements work won’t understand what it means. It would be great if they made a video or something explaining what all these numbers and everything means. As a basic consumer who knows nothing about watch movements and which is the right setting for it can even damage the watch, if the winder isn’t set right.
There is also a choice of cushions when you order the winder: either Standard (suitable for watches with a strap/bracelet circumference of 19cm to 24cm) or Flex (suitable for watches with a strap/bracelet circumference of 14cm to 20cm) NB The standard cushion suits approx 70% of our customers and Flex is preferred if wrist size is slightly smaller. The cushion that I have here is the standard one, and I think this is the best choice to go with.
Overall this is a very nice winder for the money. It really changed my mind when it comes to watch winders. I thought that I don’t need one, but in the last month of using it, it looks like it is very useful, especially on the watches where you need to set the date. The winder looks good, is very quiet and for the money, I think you won’t find a better option than this!
KaminskyBlog 