Watch winder is one of the quintessential items that every watch collector must-have. However, if you’re new to the watch-collecting hobby, you might find it hard to grasp the core function of this device, let alone set it up. So, in this article, we have covered the steps on how to set up your single watch winder for the first time.

What is a watch winder?

If you owned an automatic mechanical watch, you must’ve understood that it needs to be constantly rotated to power up the tension spring. The rotating motion received by an automatic watch comes from the motion of your wrist when you’re wearing it. If left unworn, an automatic watch will tick away until it loses its power reserve.

If you want to wear your watch again, you need to manually wind it, which can be a tedious task for some. But, this task can be entirely avoided if you use a watch winder.

How to use a watch winder?

Watch winder is essentially a watch box equipped with a motor and a microprocessor to simulate human wrist motion. Every automatic watch has an instruction on how much rotation you need each day. But, if you don’t have this particular information, here are the steps to properly set up your first single watch winder.

1. Wind your watch crown manually 20 to 30 times before placing it on the winder.
2. Then, adjust the winder rotation at the lowest turn-per-day (TPD) setting and select bidirectional rotation. Turn the winder on and wait for 48 hours to see whether your watch is still accurate or not. If the watch is accurate, you have found the right winder setting.
3. If your time is wrong, increase the TPD setting on the watch winder. Again, wait for 48 hours to see if the watch is still accurate or not. If it is accurate, you don’t have to change the winder setting anymore.
4. If the watch becomes inaccurate, repeat the previous steps but only select the clockwise or counterclockwise rotation. Wait for roughly two days for each rotation method. If the watch is accurate after selecting a particular rotation direction, you’ve found the right setting for your watch winder.

So, those are the steps to set up your first single watch winder. Remember that automatic watches require a certain resting period to let the spring lose its tension before winding it. So, make sure to adjust the resting interval on your watch winder to avoid exhausting the watch mechanism.