Review of the Everwell Single
Watch Winder (Silver and Black models)
By: John B.
Holbrook, II
July
6, 2003
(re-printed with author's permission) ©
Over
the past couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to examine
and review several different watch winders in a variety of
configurations and price points. Of these winders, I’ve yet to
find one that I like better than the Everwell Leather two-watch
winder I reviewed in January of this year. So, when the fine
people at Everwell Instruments, Ltd. asked me if I’d be
interested in evaluating other winders in their product line, I
jumped at the opportunity.
Everwell sent me two of their Eilux single watch winders for
evaluation – their “titanium” color cylinder style model, and a
charcoal grey cubic model. Both models have removable display
lids and function identically. However, the cylinder model is
battery-only operated, while the cubic model employs an optional
DC Adaptor.
Let
me state up front that I have a pretty standard set of criteria
which I apply when evaluating them:
1)
First and foremost, a watch winder should perform its primary
function – to keep an automatic wrist watch wound when not in
use.
2)
It must be quiet when in operation. Most people (me included)
keep their watch winders in the bedroom and noisy watch winders
can disturb your sleep.
3)
It should be attractive. A good watch winder should enhance the
décor of the room in which it resides. At the same time, it
should make the watches in the winder look good too, so a
display window is an essential feature.
In
my experience, the winders produced by Everwell Instruments
exceed my expectations in all areas. These Eilux winders both
employ the same fuzzy logic controls which rotate a watch at 850
turns per day on a four hour cycle. 850 TPD is sufficient to
keep any automatic wrist watch wound (remember that most
automatics produced in the last 20 years or so employ a clutch
mechanism to prevent over-winding making it impossible to damage
an automatic by over winding). The rotation direction selector
makes it possible to optimize the winder’s rotation to the
specific needs of any given watches movement – while many
automatic watch rotors wind in both direction, (bi-directional)
some watches (many Seiko watches for example) have rotors
which wind in one direction only.
These Eilux winders both employ the same fuzzy logic controls
which rotate a watch at 850 turns per day on a four hour cycle.
850 TPD is sufficient to keep any automatic wrist watch wound
(remember that most automatics produced in the last 20 years or
so employ a clutch mechanism to prevent over-winding making it
impossible to damage an automatic by over winding). The rotation
direction selector makes it possible to optimize the winder’s
rotation to the specific needs of any given watches movement –
while many automatic watch rotors wind in both direction,
(bi-directional) some watches (many Seiko watches for example)
have rotors which wind in one direction only.
One
of the more unique and brilliant design features employed by the
Eilux winders is the spring loaded watch holder mechanism which
holds the watch placed in the winder. This beauty of this design
is that the watch in question is held extremely securely with no
danger of damage to the watch. The spring loaded bottom of the
holder unit automatically adjusts to accommodate any watch
bracelet diameter placed in the winder. A simple but effective
snap on attachment means that even the largest of watches can be
used in the winder.
