In theory any serious watch collector/enthusiast will have at least one automatic watch in their collection. In reality, if you consider yourself a watch lover, there is a high probability you own multiple watches and most, if not all, of them are of the automatic variety.
I personally have a small collection and have a few automatic watches, I rotate the watches wearing different ones depending on the occasion. The problem with alternating automatic watches from day to day is that they run out of power reserve when you haven’t worn them for a few days and then you have to reset the time and date. Some may say “first world problems” but it is a real pain in the rear end, having to bring back a watch to life and reset the date and time.
But there’s a solution to my dilemma, called a watch winder, which is what its name suggests, a gadget that winds your watch for you when you’re not wearing it, but of course you knew that. If you are serious about watches, then a watch winder is a must have.
One such device is created by Barrington Watch Winders, the company has different models based on your needs with single and multiple watch winding models. Barrington was kind enough to send us one of their single watch winders for a review.
I’ve been into automatic watches for quite some time now but never bought a winder; until a few years ago, if you wanted a good quality winder, you would have to pay at least a few hundred dollars for one. And that’s exactly where Barrington saw an opportunity, to sell a high quality watch winder that was reasonably priced and highly functional.
The Barrington Single Watch Winder is priced at £99 or about $155 US and comes in 7 color choices, colors include Shadow Black, White, Yellow, Blue, Red, Orange, and Green. The unit we received is the Shadow Black, which is the one I like the most as it’s more classy looking. The other colors are also good, the bright ones are especially fun but I personally like black furniture/gadgets etc.
The Single Winder comes in a pretty heavy duty cardboard box, inside the box the winder is placed in a cloth bag with Styrofoam type material on both sides, ensuring it reaches you in top shape. The winder measures 11cm x 11cm x 15cm (4.33” x 4.33” x 5.91”) and is beautifully finished in gloss paint, it has a very high-end feel and look to it. The winder comes with a UK plug but can be shipped with European or US plug upon request. The winder can also operate on a pair of AA batteries.
The winder comes with a removable cushion/watch holder that is easily removed and placed back in the winder by pressing on the two large plastic pieces on the side of the holder. The back of the holder comes with a spring loaded section, which pushes out on the watch strap to hold it tightly in place. For those with smaller wrists, there is an eighth version of the single watch winder with a smaller cushion/holder, which only comes in black. Personally I would’ve liked the smaller version because of my 6.75” wrist, that way I wouldn’t need to adjust my leather strap watch with deployant buckle every time I put it on the winder. But even the larger cushion isn’t too bad for smaller wrist people.
When it comes to winding your watches, the Barrington Single Watch winder comes with quite a few options. At the back of the winder there are two knobs, one for the direction of the rotation and the other for turns per day (TPD). The winder can be set to rotate in clockwise, counter clockwise, or alternating directions. The TPD options include 650, 750, 850, 1,000, or 1,950 turns per day. Refer to your watch’s manual for which direction to set the winder and how many turns per day are ideal for your watch. If in doubt, set it at alternating directions and experiment with how many TPD keeps your watch fully charged.
The Barrington watch winder rotates gently for one minute at a time, then it stops. The stop time depends on which TPD you’ve chosen, the higher the TPD, the smaller the stop time and vice versa. The winder does this on-off cycle for 12 hours and then stops completely for 12 hours, this is to avoid over winding your watch and avoid damaging the main spring.
Currently the only watch I own with a power reserve indicator is the Orient Star Retrograde, I put the winder on the 1,950 TPD setting and with alternating rotating directions, after winding for about two hours, the power reserve indicator showed 10 hours of reserve gained from being completely depleted. So the Barrington watch winder works great, I just have to decrease the TPD to avoid over winding it.
The Barrington single watch winder uses a Japanese motor (it’s not specified who makes this motor) to rotate the watches, the motor is pretty quiet and is not noticeable if you’re having a conversation or the TV is on. The quiet motor is great and the noise created by the motor doesn’t distract your normal activities. There is a small LED light on the front of the case that turns on when the motor is operating.
Overall, I think the Barrington Single Watch Winder is a great addition to any serious watch collector’s arsenal, I can’t believe I never bought one. This particular winder is very stylish, is made of high quality materials, is compact, and is pretty affordable. My only problem now that I’ve used the single winder is, I need something that winds multiple watches.
To order a Barrington winder and for more information, check out their official website at barringtonwatchwinders.com.
