Watch winders. Are they a necessity, or frippery? It seems to me that a watch winder is a utilitarian thing, meant for a watch owner with just a few watches and wants them to not be wound down when rotating through them. But what if they weren’t utilitarian?
We admire watches for their art, for their craftsmanship, and for their materials. There are some watch winders that are completely utilitarian. They’re perfectly functional, and perfectly boring. Frequently, they’re in a little wooden case, with a tan fabric liner and a little pillow for the watch. Dull. But not Kunstwinder.
Kunstwinder makes functional art, with watch winders that cradle two watches, and use kinetic sculpture to make it interesting to look at. There’s an oil derrick, and a man turning a Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel is made in chrome and gold finishes, while the oil derricks are made in a variety of metal colors (black, green, red) with a variety of images inserted into the base.
The sculpture is driven off a belt, run by the same Swiss brushless motor that drives the watch carrier. The power supply is suitable for AC electric power worldwide. In the base is a toggle switch allowing you to select between single rotation and dual direction rotation. There are 24 pre-programmed modes, with a window in the base showing the number of rotations in hundreds-of-rotations-per-day. You select a program, select the direction of rotation, and select the number of turns per day, according to the manufacturer of your watch. All in all, it’s a beautiful thing to look at. Kunstwinder pricing seems to run between 4600 USD to 4800 USD, and comes with a 3-year warranty. Check them out at kunstwinder.com
