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Chinese Mainspring Winders


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I just purchased these mainspring winders from Cousins (https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/watch-etaomegarolex-calibres?code=m56903).

They from the Far East and are just £175 ex VAT.

I'm actually really impressed with them. Nicely machined, dimensions seem perfect so far (not tested all of them yet). Everything fits together perfectly and feels well made. It covers ETA, Rolex and Omega calibers. And comes with a nice heavy base to keep everything in (possibly made of depleted uranium but I'm sure that's fine.)

I used to have a nice set of almost new Bergeon mainspring winders I found on eBay but ended up selling them to buy other things I needed more. But these compare pretty well. My only criticism is that the gauge of the metal on the holder is thin. It looks a wee bit fragile. The burgeons had more meat. But other than that I'm very happy with them.

I'm not entirely sure what the two yellow metal rings are for. I think they're stands for the holder but I'm not sure why there are two of them.

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8 minutes ago, margolisd said:

They from the Far East and are just £175 ex VAT.

FYI these are €90 + VAT on declared value when bought directly https://m.aliexpress.com/item/4000386894326.htm

8 minutes ago, margolisd said:

I'm not entirely sure what the two yellow metal rings are for. I think they're stands for the holder but I'm not sure why there are two of them.

Long topic about that

 

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Interesting. It's a real mystery. It seems a lot of thought has gone into them.I was trying to work out if it's a barrel lid closer or some kind...?

Yeah, I've never had much luck on Ali Express. I find you wait two months for delivery and then get hit with customs charges. Plus you're stuffed if they go wrong. But that is a good deal!

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45 minutes ago, margolisd said:

Yeah, I've never had much luck on Ali Express. I find you wait two months for delivery and then get hit with customs charges.

Not my experience. You select the shipping method which shows the expected delivery time. Of course, getting it faster will cost more.

I have mentioned above how import VAT is calculated by most countries. You can discuss the matter with the seller before ordering.

Finally, if the item is not delivered in time, or anything is wrong with it just click dispute in the order details. Seller can reply and make a proposal which you can decline, if an agreement is not reached after 10 days AliX steps in and the normal outcome is a full refund.

Edited by jdm
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1 hour ago, margolisd said:

(possibly made of depleted uranium but I'm sure that's fine.)

:D

Yes, depleted uranium or used car tires or a combo.

I've been considering investing in these Bergeon type mainspring winders for a long time so your review is much appreciated.

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  • 3 months later...

BigSet.thumb.jpg.a4aecd6aed7357cc02049805c93e1826.jpg

Anyone having experience with this Chinese Mainspring Winder set?

They seem to cover the same calibers as the set shown by the OP but also includes ETA cal. 2750 (I guess) and Chinese cal. 7120 (I guess, couldn't find any further info). They look sort of nice but you never know and I haven't seen them before.

I don't understand why there's a handle with every winder, but, well, the manufacturer probably have no idea what they are for. The USP is that "you can easily wind the watch, keeping the watch working properly". Well that certainly feels reassuring so make sure to buy a set for each of your watches :lol:

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10 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

I don't understand why there's a handle with every winder, but, well, the manufacturer probably have no idea what they are for.

You mean the seller, not the manufacturer? In the current world of CNC production making few non-precision handles will not change the price much, but give the advantage of having each type ready without swapping the handle. Plus it's a nice place to label the caliber. I see nothing wrong in all that, Chinese are always accused of copying, for once they didn't here.

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1 hour ago, jdm said:

You mean the seller, not the manufacturer?

More likely the seller but probably both! :lol:

1 hour ago, jdm said:

Chinese are always accused of copying

And rightly so as they are copying! In China, if you're able to produce and sell copies, you're considered energetic and smart and your fellow Chinese will admire you.

 

1 hour ago, jdm said:

for once they didn't here.

Well, I'm not so sure about that. Not knowing better they probably picked up a handle for each winder and the manufacturer thought that's the way it is supposed to be. Although it looks a bit shorter than the original so you may be right about that. Who knows. Anyway, I prefer to have as few parts as possible so I would have preferred a single handle. After all, the winder doesn't look to be integrated with the handle.

Anyway, anyone having experience with this set?

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  • 9 months later...

I bought the set the OP posted and had success winding a 2836 spring and a 7750 spring, however that’s all I’ve managed to wind so far. I’ve tried making them work with other, similar sizes (that I don’t have a winder for!) with mixed luck. 
 

What I really need is one for the 6497/98!
 

Regarding the round gold pieces, they are indeed for the holder and allow you to easily wind the mainspring without accidentally bumping the bottom release and having the spring fly in to your face. ? 

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Hi Everyone,

I bought some iteration of these sets, I guess the one that VWatchie posted and tried to wind the spring of a EB1197. No luck so far on this task. So, any help on how to use these winder on vintage calibers, it will be much appreciated.

Thanks

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I find it really strange. All of us remove mainsprings by hand. I'm not aware of any other way of removing a mainspring.

So why is installing it by hand such a questionable practice? It goes through the same amount of twisting and flexing when it comes out!

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2 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

So why is installing it by hand such a questionable practice? It goes through the same amount of twisting and flexing when it comes out!

Not exactly. When you pull it out you just have to keep the coils in the barrel, the outer coil comes out practically straight. But when you put it back you have to compress that outer coil to be smaller than the barrel, and twist it a bit to get clearance from the rest, and your hands.

 

15 minutes ago, Klassiker said:

Ideally yes, but in practice, no.

In theory, theory and practice are the same thing, but in practice they're not! 

Jokes aside, I have a plan to remedy the lack of specify sizes in the set. But will take a while before I'll be able to update this topic. 

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22 hours ago, VWatchie said:

Some/many(?) professionals and indeed conscientious repairers wind the mainspring in by hand too. Read this post!

In which Master nickelsiver makes some considerations about the size and features of the mainspring in relation to fitting it by hand. The other issue is that with bare hands manipulation there will be contamination from the skin, and if using finger cots or gloves these tend to catch and tear.

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6 hours ago, jdm said:

there will contamination from skin

True, and there's basically no way around it w/o using a mainspring winder. Anyway, I'm not sure that it has any real negative consequences? The major reason we'd want to use a winder is to minimize the possibility of distorting the spring. Not to avoid contamination from the skin, but that's definitely a bonus.

6 hours ago, jdm said:

In which Master nickelsiver makes some consideration about the size and features of the mainspring in relation to fitting it by hand.

Yes, it is a very informative post!

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On 4/29/2021 at 1:02 AM, Endeavor said:

You could try the Malaysian winder ....... works flawlessly for me on any size/type watch spring I encountered so far ?

 

Hi Endevour, Thanks for the video and the others helpful discussion of forum members. I´ve been taking Mark´s course and learning what´s considered a good and a bad practice, so it´s good to know that the Maylasian winder is not too bad. I guess I´ll have to resort to that!!! Best.

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  • 2 months later...

A quick heads up for anyone thinking of buying the above set, I just bought one mainly because of the metal shaft used to wind the spring, in the cheap Chinese kits these are normally made from brass so too soft for any chance of long life from those tools.

Unfortunately although shown as metal on the sellers page when it arrived they were all made from Brass 😞

Just in case anyone was tempted, might be better to just buy the Bergeon version one at a time as you need them.

Paul

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10 minutes ago, Paul80 said:

Unfortunately although shown as metal on the sellers page when it arrived they were all made from Brass 😞

Well, brass is a metal anyway, it can also be hardened (but not after machining) making very good tools. Also, don't count on what you see shining on Chinese products pictures is steel, because they specialize in mystery metal which is given a good look by plating, etc. If the seller is a specialized one or claiming to be "factory official" there is some chance that asking gets you a sensed replay, but if it's a dropshipper they will always answer what you want to hear.

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