The stories of how products are created are often well polished and stand on a pile of statistical knowledge. Well, the impetus for the Time Machine watch winder was the accumulated frustration of the mastermind over his ex watch winder, which required a start button to be pressed every time a watch was inserted. He repeatedly forgot to activate the latter, and the result of his anger is now before us – the Time Machine Watch Winder.
Ideas do not come to life overnight, especially if there is a desire to bring them to life and to bring as much Slovenian knowledge and craftsmanship into the story as possible. It has taken four years of development work to be able to hold a wind-up today. Between 20-25 people worked on the project in different segments, and almost as many different profiles – industrial designer, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, programmer…
In principle, a watch winder is a very simple thing that rotates a timepiece in one direction or the other at a certain rate. This simulates the movement of your wrist, which activates the rotor and consequently conserves the energy reserve of the winding. As a result, there is no fear of connecting a watch to your wrist whose hands would stand still. If at this point you are wondering why it would have taken four years to develop the winder, let us cut to the chase.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the desire was to create a winder that would perceive the presence of a wristwatch in the device and start winding cycles without any additional command. In parallel, to provide a motor that would perform the rotation operation almost inaudibly. In view of the widespread concern among timepiece enthusiasts about whether or not to use a winder, a database of watches with different winding profiles was also created. And to top it all, the design and choice of materials were just the icing on the cake of the product as a whole.
Principles of Swiss watchmaking in a Slovenian product
Each Time Machine winder is created from a piece of aluminium, which is then clad in an elegant black colour. In addition to the winding drum, which can accommodate a watch holder in two dimensions, the four sensor holes on the “bezel” of the winder and the triangular light body with the company logo stand out at the front. On the back, apart from the USB-C connector, declarations and adapter holes, you won’t find anything else.
From the photos in the article, you’ve probably already figured out that the ”winder” just won’t ”stand” on its own. To this end, Time Machine has designed a collection of coasters that includes a single, a double, a double with a bead for costume jewellery, and a freestanding rod with four places for winders. Another layout option is available, the Time Machine Wall Mount, which allows the user to fully customise the winding net.
Let’s go back to the specifications. The winder measures 14 cm in height, 14 cm in width and 12 cm in depth, but for the purpose of placement in the room, the more important data are the chosen base, which in the test case was a single base. So, 15,3 cm height, 15,5 cm width and 12,4 cm depth. The fact that we are really talking about prestigious materials is indicated by the weight of the 1,4 kg winder. To this we must add the 1,4 kg weight of the treated marble base, which comes from the Massa-Carrara region of Italy, famous for its brilliant white marble. In total, there is a 2,8 kg watch winder on the living room shelf.
Tell me what timepiese you have and I’ll adjust the programme for it
This elegant sculpture thoughtfully stores components that could be figuratively compared to the movement of a wristwatch. We show you what the winder looks like under the “hood” in a parallel article, but what stands out is the fact that you will only recharge the winder once a year. The power reserve of the winder’s battery pack provides up to one year of winding. As a result, such a winder can be positioned in the place you prefer in the room, because, guessing only on the load capacity, it is not limited to other predispositions.
The watch winder joins the range of smart devices for the first time, thus expanding the possibilities of use. The eponymous app (available on iOS, Andorid and HarmonyOS) connects to the winder via a Bluetooth interface, the success of which is indicated by a flashing light on the winder’s facade. The latter also serves as a touch switch and as a warning if something is wrong with the winder (red light).
Upon entry, the app offers a collection of the layout of the supporters and thus also the positions of the individual elements. In our case, there was no doubt because we had a single unit. After selecting a winding set, it can be individually named.
Then the timer to be wound is selected and set, and thus the winding programme. This is done by scrolling to the clock icon in the bottom menu bar of the app. This opens a tab with a big plus icon, which when pressed will bring up more than 20,000 wristwatch references. The team at Time Machine says that if your watch is not on the list, simply contact them and they will provide the information from the watch manufacturer and enter it into the app. However, there is already an ”Any automatic watch” option built into the system if you want to wind a reference that is not currently listed.
Then click with your thumb on the rightmost icon – the winder. This opens a tab with a graphic of the winder, which you click on as if you were trying to place a clock on it – virtually. This activates our previously configured watch database, from which we then select the desired model. Once the model is selected (and the clock is physically inserted into the winder), the execution of the program begins. In the meantime, the application provides us with information about the state of charge of the winder, the model of the watch on the winder and the direction and number of rotations per day. A nice addition to the number of rotations is the graphic of a semicircle with arrows indicating which way the watch is rotating.
There is also a function to identify the winder, which is particularly useful if you own several Time Machine collection sets. If you want to change the rotation programme or the watch on the winder, you can do so by pressing the ”remove watch” icon. Of course, don’t forget to physically replace the watch on the holder in the winder drum. 😊
Special offer for 300 units only!
With the spring promotion, the Time Machine Watch Winder is currently very affordable, and on top of all that, it is a competent and idyllic product for the decoration of the living room, office or bedroom. The Single Base demonstration test case is now available for 1.260 euros in a set of winder and single marble base, while the regular price of such a set is 2.100 euros.
Below we add a list of the collection’s discounted items, and for more product information and purchasing options, you’re welcome to visit the Time Machine Winders website.
Time Machine winder: €1.020 (regular price €1.700)
Single base: €240 (regular price €400)
Double base: €360 (regular price €600)
Double base with compartment: €540 (regular price €900)
Stand: €1.140 (regular price €1.900)
Rocco
photo: caranduser.com
