Useful tool?

[fjseal]

Hi all,

Is this the most pointless tool in watchmaking? It is a crown winder. I can't believe the effort that has gone into designing and making this. It is awkward to use and it is much easier to just wind the crown with your fingers. It's made by Bergeon and is quite expensive. I bought it on impulse but I don't enjoy using it. There must have been a good reason for going to all that effort, so if anyone can enlighten me I may be able to make some sense of it. Even if you had a lot of watches to wind in your workshop I can't see the justification for it. Thanks.

[Nucejoe]

I like it, makes life easy, saves finger nails, worth every penny you paid.      enjoy.

[jdm]

I think it's better use it for some for some ladie's crowns which are really difficult to turn. A small piece of silicone hose (if you can find that size) may be even better for these.

[oldhippy]

You have learnt the hard way. Bergeon just love people that part with cash on overpriced tools.

[spectre6000]

I feel like I've seen that or something very similar marketed as an aid for arthritic people (maybe arthritic watchmakers? It's definitwly a crowd that trends older...). If gripping something with the degree of manual dexterity required became a challenge, I imagine I'd go this route before I bought a quartz watch.

[sean1996]

I have bought watches that are off by over 20 days on the calendar, so with a winder it makes it so much easier to change than manually twisting the crown.

[jdm]

14 minutes ago, sean1996 said:

I have bought watches that are off by over 20 days on the calendar, so with a winder it makes it so much easier to change than manually twisting the crown.

Have you tried going back and forth 2 hrs around date change on these.

Altough day of week quickset is not  a given not even on current quartz.

[MrRoundel]

I use a collet-holding pin-vise that operates on the same principle, except you must measure and get the right sized collet. And I use it mostly by holding the crown with the tool while I gradually let down the mainspring. Perhaps they're more for that than winding it up? Am I stating something obvious?