It’s a funny thing, the dialogue surrounding watch winders. I’m firmly in the camp of useful, but not necessary, much the same of how I feel about watches in general. Do we really need any of these things? In the modern era, no, not really. Does that diminish the enjoyment we derive from watches and watch-related accessories? Also no, not really. I see some of the watch-fam-internet-faithful taking absolutely absurd, hardline stances on a myriad of hobby topics, and one that comes up repeatedly is that of the watch winder. To me, these arguments are all moot from the start; like any accessory, if the watch winder is one that suits your watch-wearing needs, then it makes sense to have one. If it doesn’t suit your needs, then it probably makes less sense (oOoOoOooo, logic, so scary).
For me, having a winder or two makes sense given the variety of watches that I wear on a regular basis. I like to rotate, but there are some watches that are better off (in my opinion) not being wound and reset every time I’d like to put them on the wrist. I’ve had winders for years now, and so I was pleasantly surprised when a company called MOZSLY reached out in the fall and asked if I’d like to use and review one of their new winders. It’s been here in the apartment with me for just about three months now - I like to take my time to make sure my assessments are fair and accurate, what can I say - and so with some light snow falling up here in the North, it’s as good a day as any to make a nice espresso and write about this winder.
Skipping to my one-liner thought: it’s a solid, well-functioning, and simplistic piece of equipment in all the right ways.
To me, the winder is, as I mentioned, an accessory. It should be something that not only serves its purpose of winding the watch when unworn, but can also be used as a sort of unobtrusive display for whichever watch happens to be on the winder at that time. MOZSLY let me pick any of their winders for the review, and while they have some with different colors (bright and subdued), textures (metal and leather), and capacities (one or two watches), I was drawn to the simplicity and sleekness of arguably their most basic model.
Right off the bat, I liked the look and feel. It’s compact, almost dense even, and it doesn’t make too much of itself. I’ve rotated probably ten different watches through this winder over the last three months, and I’m happy to report that watches of just about any practical size will fit into this small unit. I say practical because the watch in the image above sits at 44mm in case diameter; that’s as large of a watch as you’ll see in my collection, and I’d venture to say that whoever owns a 50mm RM Flyback Chronograph is likely letting it sit in a safe, not a winder. While the insert area itself could fit the entirety of this watch if needed, it actually sits quite nicely just outside the recess, and as a result, the watch has this extra pronouncement of dimensionality that really puts it on display. I think this was a nice touch by the folks over at MOZSLY, allowing the watch to be assisted by the winder, rather than attempting to make the winder the star of the show.
For the most part, I choose very specifically the types of watches that I set in a winder. Some of these are chosen due to me being lazy…uhh wait I mean “pressed for time and often in a rush to get to my next area of productivity.” Others are in an attempt to preserve some of the more delicate parts within certain vintage movements that I’ve collected over the years. I’ll explain both.
As for the lazy, we’re talking about the Kurono Tokyo Calendrier ‘Type I.’ It’s a complete calendar watch, which means it includes seconds, minutes, hours, day of the week, day of the month, and the month itself on the dial. I love, love, love, this watch, but I love it even more when I don’t have to set it :) Being able to just grab-and-go a watch with such a complication is the very definition of convenience.
For the second example, which I’m sure someone out there will read and go “OH NO NOT THE VINTAGE!!!!” hear me out and you’ll see that it makes sense.
The watch pictured above is a 1973 Seiko Lord Matic, and the movement is from the 5606 series. Pro: it’s got a quickset day/date function. Con: the quickset day/date function has a plastic quickset mechanism. For the day, it was innovative, and one theory was that it would be easily replaceable during servicing.
Approaching 50 years later, this is no longer the case. These plastic parts are almost impossible to source as originals, and often difficult to replace. They also have a habit of breaking after years of use, even disintegrating, in which case you’re pretty much out of luck without a good watchmaker around (and maybe even then so). These days, I hardly ever touch the quickset out of caution, since the regular day/date change works perfectly well when moving from 9 PM - 2 AM on its own.
Where the winder comes into play: having the option of vintage grab-and-go is just awesome, and the peace of mind to not be putting any additional stress on the quickset mechanism is an added bonus. Will I leave vintage watches on a winder for months at a time? No. But in keeping a rotation and preserving some of those finicky movement parts, a winder’s a good thing to have.
Now, when it comes to the performance of the winder itself, there’s not much more I could ask of it. It winds, it winds well, it can go left, it can go right-
*record scratch from a 90s movie*
Ugh, sorry. It rotates both clockwise and counterclockwise. You’re welcome.
It’s also the quietest winder I’ve ever seen and not heard, ever. If you’ve never owned a winder before, some of them can sound like miniature tractors on a miniature farm…even those that cost up into the $500 and higher range. The MOZSLY winder currently sits in my living room under the TV, in plain sight, and even if I sit right next to it, I can’t hear a thing. A+ attribute.
While my experience with the winder has been positive, I have to say my experience working with the company itself has beaten it for first place on the positivity meter. For context, I’ve turned down more than a fair share of companies/brands that have reached out to me for a collaboration; some had cheaply produced and overpriced products, some were rude, some were sketchy, some asking for too much, some just not the right fit, and some managing to incorporate all of the above. On the opposite end of the spectrum, working with MOZSLY has been a great experience. And before you instinctively roll your eyes and think, “hmmmmm, paid off much?” nope, they’re not paying me to say this, and actually they’re not paying me at all! It’s really just been that enjoyable of a partnership (sorry if I’ve made you blush, MOZSLY people). The company is based in the U.K., still smallish - from our conversations it sounds like about 20-30 people including those in production - and there’s a personal touch that goes into the product creation, hand-assembly, and individual engagement with partners and customers.
Last point here to make is the price. For the winder I’ve got here, we’re looking at $89.99, which I think is a fair price for the specs. It’s easy to spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on winders, and in some cases the argument could be made that some of those prices are justified if that’s your budget. There are also cheaper winders out there than the MOZSLY options, though in my experience, you tend to get what you pay for; the last time I tried a sub $50 winder, let’s just say it did not stand the test of time (you know I had to throw another watch pun in there). I’m comfortable with this price point being somewhat mid-range: no complaints here.
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As always, wherever you are, and wherever you’re going, many thanks for stopping by.