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First Swiss Watch owner and I made it a Ball

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  CounterfeitCop 
#1 ·
I've been wanting to own a Swiss watch for a few years now and I finally made the jump. I narrowed it down between a Bell & Ross BR123 GMT, Oris Big Crown GMT, and the Engineer Master ii Pilot GMT. I am so glad I went with the Ball. It feels just as good as it looks!

My question for this forum:

What is the general opinion on watch winders?

If I decide to go for a watch winder, any links on which one would be compatible with the movement on my watch.

Can anyone provide me with a link or two regarding watch winders.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I'm sorry, but there is no single opinion on winders. Some swear by them, some consider them a useful tool, and I consider winders to be a ridiculous waste of money (unless you have a perpetual calendar watch which is a royal P.I.T.A. to reset should it run down). I have " a lot of '' automatics, which means a lot of them are always run-down. Rather than keep a few always ticking away, I prefer to save the several hundred dollars I'd spend on the winder; reset the time, and just turn the crown a dozen times or shake it for 30 seconds to fire the watch up again.

And yes, I said several hundred dollars for a winder....a good one. REALLY good ones can cost thousands!
Like knives, cars, suits and shoes, you get what you pay for! Sure, you can pick up a battery-powered winder on eBay for $31, but I wouldn't. Cheap winders will *burn through batteries quickly if you don't select an AC/DC model
*they are made from inferior materials
*they are of shoddy workmanship,
*you can't vary the winder's rotation speed
*they don't spin in both directions
*they are noisy (especially when you're trying to fall asleep at night), and
*won't last for very long.

I strongly urge you to google the topic EXPENSIVE VS. CHEAP WATCH WINDERS.
I won't supply any links to winders because WTF does not hotlink to companies that are not Official Forum Sponsors, however...
three brands that receive favorable remarks on other watch sites are Eilux, Orbita, and Wolf. All three manufacturers have their own websites.

Ball uses the ETA auto movement, whose rotor winds the mainspring bi-directionally, which means just about any watch winder is compatible with Ball.
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FYI: Bell & Ross isn't a true Swiss watch...B&R is a French watch brand whose Corporate Headquarters is located in Paris, France. B&R just buys watch movements from ETA, which may or may not be manufactured in ETA's factory in the Orient.
 
#3 ·
Thanks Hunter! I took your advice and looked into what makes a good winder and if it really is something that I would use. I much would prefer to invest that money into another Ball. That to me is money well spent. Also the information about BR watches was enlightening. I wasn?t aware about where they source their parts.
Thanks again for the info!

Cheers!
 
#4 ·
Some people will tell you that you must have a watch winder to keep the lubricant circulating, and I do own several winders.

On the other hand, I bought a Renis with what I believe to be the automatic Unitas Incablock movement about 30 years ago. It is an ugly watch, I've never worn it, but I bought it brand new in the box because it was manufactured circa 1957, the year I was born. It sat on a shelf for thirty years till I bought it, and another thirty years here ... give it a shake, and it still runs perfectly.
 
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