Backstory of the prestigious Time Machine watch winders

The editorial team thought that many people would want to understand why it took so long to design the Time Machine winder and how they outweigh the asking price. Besides, we are rarely offered the opportunity to see the development and production of a product, especially not in our home capital of Slovenia.

Before you conjure up a mental image of a dusty production facility, where machines hum night and day, let me note that the Ljubljana winders assembly plant is more like a small laboratory. It is also located in a rather monotonous environment of Ljubljana. Alongside the handy instruments and fine tools, the space contains quite a lot of storage racks. You wouldn’t think that a winder project would be created by so many suppliers of individual parts, most of which are manufactured in Slovenia.

We already know the idea for the winding tower, but Time Machine team wanted to design a winder that is as user-friendly as possible, and beautiful to look at. The relatively compact dimensions of the winder are well measured, as it is necessary to fit three batteries, a circuit board, a light, a motor and a drum in a piece of aluminium block casing. On the other side is the lid, or lunette, which contains four more sensors with circuitry. The parts are mated with three screws and, if the mating is successful, the winder is activated. The reading is expressively fast and simple, but it took a long 1,460 days to reach the level of the assembly process described above.

If the conundrum of replacing the start button with the clock presence sensors was resolved fairly quickly, it took several calls and emails to coordinate the manufacture of the little motor that you will find in surgical facilities and NASA’s space agency department. According to the guys at Time Machine, their little motor is 20 times more expensive than those found in other watch winders on the market. Based on what we’ve tested, we more than believe it, because the winding of a watch can’t even be heard in bed from a nearby bedside table.

One of the conditions was that the winder did not need constant power, or better still, frequent charging. This way we get rid of the position next to the socket or the constant gymnastics with charging cables. Because of the autonomy of the three batteries, the winder will need to be recharged approximately every 365 days. Of course, the figure reads as marketing, but the Time Machine Winder has passed numerous tests – from battery autonomy, temperature stress between -20°C and +40°C and an endurance test simulating 10 years of operation. The latter process was a constant rotation of the winders for a good three months, which results in more than one million turns. It is worth noting that after the test, there were no visible signs of use on the winder components.

The sustainability aspect of the winder should not be overlooked. It is a bit of a misused word nowadays, but if we take a closer look at the design of the winder and the possibility of changing the components, the designers have also taken this aspect into account. The Time Machine Winder can be repaired without throwing away the whole device. While the risk of failure is very low, there is a possibility in terms of how it can be used – for example, inserting a clip into the drum, plugging in a charging cable, etc.

The attention to detail and the quality of the materials and workmanship are of an enviable standard. This is illustrated by the persistence in finding a supplier who produces the circuit board in black and prints the logo in gold. In order to achieve the homogeneous light distribution of the TM logo, the technologist of a Slovenian company designing headlights for Audi, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari cars was consulted. After much effort, the marble design master just got the right angle on the base for the winders to sit without any deviations. And if you thought Apple had perfected the packaging, you haven’t received your Time Machine Watch Winder yet.

Against all odds, the first chapter of the Slovenian winder’s story has been written. The next chapter is being written in response to the global reaction to the product. With what we have seen so far, it is a bit awkward to ask what is next, but the indications point to a broadening of the range of colours and materials and optimisation of the user experience of the app.

Rocco
photo: caranduser.com