****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
The box is a bit larger than I had expected actually, but for a watch winder that can accommodate eight watches, it has a relatively small footprint and can easily be placed on my nightstand. The real dimensions are 11.5 x 11.5 x 11.5 inches. The quality of the watch winder construction seems to be fine for the price. The medium-weight carbon fiber style (yes, it's not real carbon fiber, just look-alike) box is covered with a glossy transparent coat and has a front-opening acrylic glass lid. The inside wall is inclined about 70 degrees. Each of the four carousels has removable memory foam pads in two watch slots, which makes it easier to fit larger watches side by side on the same carousel. To put in (or remove) a watch you simply need to pull out the memory foam pad and put the watch on its foam (or remove from it) and put the foam back to its slot.This watch winder can accommodate up to eight automatic mechanical self-winding watches. It has four "carousels", each carousel can hold two watches. Note that you need to pair watches per carousel according to their rotation specifications, both watches have to have the same TPD requirements, check the watch specs. Each carousel has a dedicated rotation mode switch at the back of the unit, and you can select one of the following settings controlling direction of their rotation and duration. While this is very nice that you can match rotation direction that's the best for your watch, it provides only two cycle time duration selections, and you cannot fine tune and adjust rotation speed or rotation duration per carousel at all. I consider it a very limited option and I would prefer to have more control over carousels rotation characteristic to match with my automatic watches' optimal settings. Even at this lower-end price range I think they should have included more controls.The rotation mechanism is powered by four Mabuchi drives, which is a widely used (and respected) drive in many low to mid-tier watch winders. The rotation action is smooth and quiet and can easily rotate even the heaviest watches I have with ease. I have been running this watch winder for a week now 24/7 in my bedroom and I don't hear anything while sleeping at night. When you open the lid, it automatically stops the rotation mechanism so you can conveniently access your watches. The box itself is lockable and comes with a simple key that can be lock-picked with a paperclip, so don't expect that it will prevent any form of theft, it's not a safe. On the back of the box there is a battery compartment, as well as control knobs for each of the watch's four carousels, and a power input for an external source and backlight switch. The blue LED illumination of the case looks nice but it's distracting at night, and I have turned it off, it's more for "show-off" than for convenience of usage IMHO. It offers a choice of power options: AC or battery, which requires two "D" batteries. I haven't tried the battery power option and I don't see any point to using it because you will end up swapping batteries every week or two and it's a waste of money and waste of your time, just plug in the included power adapter and forget about it. I'd rather prefer it if they make the box smaller by eliminating the battery compartment.*** TL;DR ***Well, I think I'm going to recommend this watch winder, for the asked price you probably cannot go wrong, 7/10 in my book. It runs smoothly and quietly, you can adjust rotation mode per carousel, it's very easy to take out and put back watches thanks to removable foam pads, it has a nice blue LED interior light, you can power it from an external source, and it easily fits on a nightstand. There are a few shortcomings, like very limited rotation controls, fake carbon-fiber look-alike exterior, and cheap and not secure lid lock, but they are not that major, so I'm gonna take off only one star. Therefore, it gets 4 stars from me. I'll update this review if anything changes in future.+++ Pros +++1) Super quiet operations.2) Nice carbon-filter style.3) Quite powerful motors.4) Dedicated controls per carousel.5) Blue LED illumination (can be turned off).6) Can run on batteries or from a power supply.7) Relatively small footprint.8) Cost-effective.--- Cons ---1) Very limited rotation settings.2) A bit larger than expected.3) Made of not a real carbon-fiber.4) Key lock is not secure.It is a tool that looks like carbon but is not carbon, has a polished surface, powerful engines, quality materials are used, and works silently.It has blue LED lighting that can be turned off.I prefer to run it with a power supply, but it can also be used with a battery. The power supply becomes more efficient.The clocks should be adjusted so that they are compatible with each other.Slightly larger clock winder.I like this winder and the fact it has independent controls. The build quality is pretty good and it has a nice overall appearance to it. I have been using it about a month with no issues. 5 STARS....about what a watch winder actually did..... i mean, i guess i knew what it was for - the purpose of it... but i didnt realize this was for up to 8 watches..... which is awesome but i dont know who owns 8 watches like that.... its a very nice quality, sturdy built "machine".... it has a key for the top lid, so of course you can lock your watches safely inside..... it has 4 winding knobs, a power toggle....and of course the power cord.... i love the blue lights that activate when the winder is rotating..... i highly recommend it
