So you’ve got a horological monkey on your back. Good for you! Take it from the guy who founded The Truth About Cars, there are a lot more expensive addictions than watch collecting. Collecting. Huh. It’s more like owning, amiright? And if you own more than one watch (at least one automatic), here are three must-have watch accessories you need to take care of your babies . . .
Watch winder
A watch winder is one of the most important must-have watch accessories. First, decide how many watches you want dead or alive. If you’re new to the game, get a single watch winder. One that connects to and powers other winders – there’s no way on God’s green earth you’re going to stop at one automatic watch and nobody’s’ S.O. likes a forest of wires.
The connectable $239 Wolf Cub (no commission on link) proves there’s no need to spend a fortune on watch winders with digital displays and rotation settings. Shod in vegan leather (thank God), the Cub performs intermittent rotations with pre-programmed pause and sleep phases. No worries about over-winding or watch-specific TDP (turns per day).
If you’re ready to admit your problem, forget two-watch winders – there’s no way on God’s green earth you’re going to stop at two autos. Go for a multiple watch winder powered by Japan’s Mabuchi motor – famed for its reliability and quiet. After that, it comes down to style, budget (these are NOT cheap) and size. And yes, you’ll have to program the damn things.
Cleaning products
Cleaners are another of your must-have watch accessories. When it comes to the scratches on your watch’s bracelet, leave that to an authorized dealer’s mender – and know that repolishing (or refinishing) a vintage watch will destroy its value. Be specific with your instructions.
To remove scratches from your watch crystal – even sapphire crystals can scratch – I recommend PolyWatch (no commisson on link) and a VERY clean cloth. A small tube of the stuff works like a charm and lasts forever.
For cleaning crystals, cases, steel and leather straps, I recommend WristClean’s water-based, pH neutral, chlorine and glycerin-free Watch Cleaner Spray (doesn’t remove anti-reflective coatings), Rubber Strap Care (don’t use on leather stitching) and wonderful smelling Leather Strap Care (do use on leather stitching). Again, no commission on links.
Flashight
A flashlight may not seem like one of the most useful must-have watch accessories. But if you’ve read Glow-In-The-Dark Watches: 3 of the Best and thought yeah baby, you might be a lumatic (or an Austin Powers fan). If you’ve ever held your watch up to a lamp, you might be a lumatic (or a Geoff Foxworthy fan). And if you are a lumatic, you need a really POWERFUL flashlight.
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To ensure your luminescent timepieces shine like a tyger, tyger burning bright, buy a simple mega-lume flashlight like the $157 Surefire P2ZX Fury CombatLight LED (no commission on link). Shield your eyes – no really – blast the light on your watch for 60 seconds and BA-BAM! You’re good to glow. High-powered flashlights are also excellent for blinding watch thieves. No really.
[…] health (as with any mechanical device, regular use keeps the bits from seizing-up). Click here to read our independent advice on winder […]
[…] Sinn achieved this effect by applying anti-reflective coating on both sides of the 556i’s sapphire crystal. I don’t know what formulation Sinn uses, but the treatment disappears the glass. The magic trick has a downside: the dial’s surface is easier to smear than our current president. To the point that the 556i should come with a bottle WristClean Watch Cleaner Spray. […]
[…] the positive side, the Hamilton Murph is wondrously luminous. Hit it with a strong flashlight for 30 seconds and you couldn’t ask for more pleasing nighttime timepiece. Which is just as […]
Never ever, ever, ever, use a watch winder period of talk to multiple Rolex certified horologist as well as watchmakers and they all said the same thing, never use a watch winder. They all said that a watch Winder wind up doing more harm to your watch than any perceived advantage you may have. Yeah hear people say will you have to put them in a Winder so that you don’t damage the watch by letting an automatic sit idle. That’s a load of malarkey. With the new modern synthetic oils that the use compared the old animal based oils that they used to use the modern oils are just fine sitting. The problem that you run into is not maintaining proper service. Imagine putting a watch on a watch Winder in your one of those guys that will it working just fine it’s keeping Pause -3 seconds per day right now I am not gonna worry about service all your doing is slowly destroying your watch with that wander. I mean I know several people with vintage Rolex and Patek watches that have never had them serviced, some of these watches are well over 30 years old. It makes my skin crawl to think of what’s going on inside those watches.
If you can nail this down with an on-the-record expert and write it up I’d be delighted to publish it. And take my watches off the wonder!