Watch Winder FAQs

Important Information About Installing and Removing Winder Springs
	Frequently Asked Questions What types of watches are there, and which ones benefit from JFA watchwinders? Can kinetic or quartz watches be used? How many rotations are needed to wind my watch? I want to keep my watchwinder near the headboard of my bed. What is the sound level of the motors? Is there a danger of over-winding when the unit is turned on 24 hours, 365 days a year? Can I exchange or return my winder if I don't like it?
	Ordering, Payment and Shipping FAQs What credit cards do you accept? Can I order by phone or fax? Why does the URL change when I check out and place my order? Do you charge sales tax? What do you charge for shipping?
	Watch Winder Warranty FAQs What is your warranty coverage? I did not buy my winder from JFA. Do I have the same warranty coverage? Are warranties transferable?
	Returns, Refunds and Repairs FAQs Can I exchange or return my winder if I don't like it? How do I return my winder for repair? Do you repair out-of-warranty winders? I purchased or received as a gift one of your watch winders. How do I exchange it?
	Watch Winder Operation FAQs How many rotations are needed to wind my watch? What types of watches are there, and which ones benefit from JFA watchwinders? Can kinetic or quartz watches be used? How do I use the watch winder (winder instructions)? What are the differences between polymer and metal retaining springs? Is there a danger of over-winding when the unit is turned on 24 hours, 365 days a year? Which is the recommended direction for a Rolex watch? Setting the mechanism continually to the left or right? How long does the battery run in the single or double units? Sometimes my battery unit continuously runs without stopping. Is this a problem? On the bottom base of the unit where the batteries are placed, should there be a cover to contain the batteries? The watch holder (the plastic part or metal part on the one-watch winder) are quite big! My wife's watches can't fit into the holder. Do you have anything smaller? I have noticed that some of my watches do not rotate, but sometimes slip on the rubber gasket. I want to keep my watchwinder near the headboard of my bed. What is the sound level of the motors? Why is there a black residue on my winder?

Ordering, Payment and Shipping FAQs

Q. What credit cards do you accept?

A. We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. We accept only US based credit cards.

Q. Can I order by phone or fax?

A. Yes, but you will not be able to take advantage of the special offers or pricing on our Web site. These are only available to orders placed through our Web site using our secure, online shopping cart. Please see the Ordering and Payment Options page for more information.

Q. Why does the URL change when I check out and place my order?

A. We use a third-party secure server and shopping cart to process our online orders. This provides enhanced security, as this secure server and cart are maintained by experts in the field. Please see the Ordering and Payment Options page for more information.

Q. Do you charge sales tax?

A. As we are based in Chicago, Illinois, we are required to collect and pay state and local sales taxes, but only for orders placed by residents of or shipped to addresses in Illinois. Please see the Ordering and Payment Options page for more information.

Q. What do you charge for shipping?

A. We charge shipping based on the total dollar value of your order. The actual charge is based on a combination of actual carrier charges and our handling and insurance costs. Please see the Ordering and Payment Options page for more information.

Watch Winder Warranty FAQs

Q. What is your warranty coverage?

A. Unless otherwise noted, all new JFA watch winders purchased by retail customers directly from JFA have a one or a two-year warranty (depending on the model), and refurbished JFA watch winders carry a 90-day warranty. The warranty covers the winder only. Springs, adapters, domes, and other accessories are not covered. The warranty starts on the date of purchase.Please see the Warranties page for more information.

Q. I did not buy my winder from JFA or a JFA reseller. Do I have the same warranty coverage?

A. No. Only consumer purchases directly from JFA or from JFA resellers have a one or two-year warranty. If you buy a JFA watch winder from an unauthorized source, you will not get any JFA-backed warranty. To avoid this, always purchase your JFA watch winders from an authorized reseller. Please see the Warranties page for more information.

Q. Are warranties transferable?

A. No. All warranties, standard or extended, apply only to the original owner of the watch winder. Please see the Warranties page for more information.

Returns, Refunds and Repairs FAQs

Q. Can I return my winder if I don't like it?

A. We offer a liberal 30-day home trial on our products. If for any reason within 30 days you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply contact us for a prompt exchange, credit, or friendly refund. A 15% restocking fee may occur. Please see the Return, Repairs and Refunds page for more information.

Q. How do I return my winder for repair?

A. First, obtain a Return Authorization (RA) number. An RA is needed for all returns, repairs, or refunds, except as noted on the Return, Repairs and Refunds page. Please use this form and include your order number and the reason for the return. An RA will be sent to you via email. Please see the Return, Repairs and Refunds page for more information.

Q. Do you repair out-of-warranty winders?

A. Yes, for a small fee. Watch winders are eligiblefor up to two Out-of-Warranty repairs during the life of the unit. Please see the Return, Repairs and Refunds page for more information.

Q. I purchased or received as a gift one of your watch winders. How do I exchange it?

A. Our liberal 30-day home trial permits you to exchange or upgrade your watch winder. A credit, less S&H, and restocking fee is offered if the winder is returned to us in new condition prepaid and insured. Winders must be received within 45 days of the invoice date trial. This allows you two weeks for transit time (one week each way) and a full 30 days in which to "test drive" our winders. Please see the Return, Repairs and Refunds page for more information.

Watch Winder Operation FAQs

Q. How many rotations are needed to wind my watch?

A. Here are some average rotation requirements to fully wind...

Alain Silberstein 650-800 A. Shild 800 Audemars Piguet 650 Auguste Reymond 650-800 Ball 50 Baume & Mercier 650-800 Bell & Ross 650-800 Bertolucci 650-800 Blancplain 650-950 Bregeut 500 Brietling 650-800 Bulgari 650-950 Cartier 650-800 Chase Durer 650-800 Chopard 650 Chronoswiss 650-800 Corun 650 Daniel Mink 650 Daniel Roth 650 Dubey & Schaldenbrand 650-800 Ebel 650-800 Eta 650-800 Eterna 650 Fortis 650-800 Frederique Constant 600 Gérald Genta 650 Gevril 650 Girard-Perregaux 500-800 Glashütte 600 Hamilton 800 Hanhart 650-800 Harry Winston 800 Hublot 650-800 Ikepod 650-800 IWC 650-800 J. Chevalier 650-800 Jaeger-LeCoultre 400-900 Jean Marcel 650-800 Kobold 800 Krieger 650-800

Lemania 650-950 Limes 650 Longines 650-800 Lucerne 800 Marcello C. 650-800 Maurise LaCroix 650-800 Minerva 800 Mühle Glashütte 650 Nivrel 650-800 Omega 650-800 Oris 650 Panerai 650-800 Parmigiana Fleurier 800 Patek Philippe 650-800 Paul Picot 650-800 Perellet 650 Philippe Charriol 650-800 Piaget 800 Rainder Brnad 650-900 Revue Thommen 650-800 RGM 650-800 Rolex 650 Sinn 650-800 Sothis 650-800 Stowa 650-800 Tag Heuer 650-800 Temption 650-800 Tiffany 650 Tissot 650-800 Tudor 650-800 Tutima 650-800 Ulysse Nardin 650-800 Union 800 Universal Geneve 800 Vincent Calabrese 600-700 Waldan International 500 Wenger Watch 800 Xemed 650 Yantar 800 Zenith 650

Currently our battery-powered watch winders have 960 RPD in 24 hours or 1 rotation in 90 seconds. This makes the battery life about 1 year, 8 months.

Our JFAE4i four-watch electric winder has about 750 RPD in 24 hours in each direction. Please note that it runs for about 30 seconds, then rests.

Q. What types of watches are there, and which ones benefit from JFA watchwinders?

A. AUTOMATIC or SELF-WINDING: watches wind themselves as the wearer moves their wrist. The wearer's arm actions cause a weight behind the movement to rotate, winding the mainspring. They can also be wound manually. These are the watches that are benefit from our watchwinders.

None of the other watches mentioned in this article may be used on a JFA Watchwinder.

MECHANICAL: the traditional "wind-up" watches. They work because of a mainspring inside the watch which the wearer winds by turning the crown on the side of the watch. The spring gradually unwinds and turns tiny interlocking wheels which move the watch hands to measure seconds, minutes and hours.

QUARTZ: powered by batteries, rather than a mechanical spring. The batteries send electronic impulses through a small bar of synthetic quartz crystal which vibrates more than 32,000 times per second. Those vibrations are channeled through a series of gears that result in one impulse per second.

KINETIC: these appear to be self winding, but are really not. Similar to mechanical automatic watches, the movement of the wrist moves a weight that charges a battery in the watch. The watch is really a quartz watch that generates power for the storage cell. It is similar to a quartz watch in functionality.

The terms ANALOG and DIGITAL refer to the way time is displayed on the dial. Analog simply refers to a watch with traditional time-telling "hands." Quartz analogs are watches in which the hands are moved by the electronic impulses passing from the battery through the quartz crystal to a step motor which moves the hands. A quartz analog watch may look like an automatic or self winding watch, however, it is still a self winding watch.

Digital watches display the time with digits-- numbers--instead of hands. The numerals are created by either light-emitting diodes (LED) or liquid crystal displays (LCD).

Quartz watches are generally more accurate than mechanical watches, for two reasons. One, mechanical watches have many moving parts. That means more friction and less accuracy as the parts interact. Digitals have no moving parts. Two, the quartz crystal's constant and amazingly frequent vibrations per second enable watches to measure the second with unprecedented accuracy. A quartz watch should function properly for years with a battery life of one to up to five years. When the battery needs to be replaced, do not do it yourself. Take it to an authorized jeweler. Make sure they replace the "O" ring seal as well. This will maintain the integrity of the water resistant seal. Too often, customers take their watch to the local "watch battery" place to save money. The result is often quite costly for repair once the water breaches the water tight seal.

Q. How do I use the watch winder?

A. A few simple steps provides safe and effective winding of your automatic watches. Click here to view the instructions.

Q. What are the differences between polymer and metal retaining springs?

A. Please Note: We have discontinued the polymer watch retaining springs and replaced them with metal.

The differences are:

• Polymer springs do not collapse as much as metal.
• Polymer springs come with two adhesive strips to apply, at the user's option, to each end of the retaining spring. This increases the distance or size of watch that will be accommodated on the spring. The strips are used to hold metal watch bands to prevent slippage on the polymer.
• Polymer springs may break if collapsed too much. Broken springs are not covered under warranty.
• Metal springs come with rubber strips attached to each end. Metal springs, if not used properly, may scratch metal watch bands. To properly place watch on retaining springs, place your thumb and first finger in the rounded ends of the spring and squeeze to collapse the retaining spring. Then slip your watch on the spring and release. Properly used the metal springs will NOT scratch any metal watch bracelet.

Q. Is there a danger of over-winding when the unit is turned on 24 hours, 365 days a year?

A. There has been a lot of discussion about self-winding (automatic) watches and the use of watch winders. Here is the discussion that is presented by ROLEX in a booklet that accompanies their Rolex Oyster watches.

"The perpetual rotor is an innovation...patented by Rolex in 1931. ...a semi-circular rotor...winds the main spring. Once the optimum tension is reached, a special slip clutch prevents overwinding...and has been generally adopted throughout the watch making industry."

Some manufacturers have also prevented their watch from being wound in the counter clockwise direction to add additional reduction in the winding of the main spring. All of our winders either can be set to run in either direction or they automatically change direction to incorporate both clockwise and counter-clockwise winding of your watch.

Watchwinders will not wind a watch that is not already wound. Make sure your watch is properly wound prior to placing it on the winder. Winders will maintain the power reserve but normally with not wind a watch that is not at least 50% of the reserve prior to being placed on the winder.

Q. How long should one keep a watch on the unit? 8 hours? 24 hours?

A. You can not overwind the watch. It needs about 8 hours if it is run down, less if the power reserve is higher.

Q. Which is the recommended direction for a Rolex watch? Setting the mechanism continually to the left or right?

A. It does not matter with a Rolex made after 1972.

Q. How long does the battery run in the single or double units?

A. The one-watch winder runs for about a year on two D batteries. The two-watch winder runs for about 6 months. However, the two-watch unit is supplied with an AC adapter as well.

Q. Sometimes my battery unit continuously runs without stopping. Is this a problem?

A. In the AC mode, this is not a problem. In the battery mode, this will cause the batteries to deplete more quickly. Return the winder only to us for repair of the internal micro switch. If under warranty, there is no charge. If outside of warranty or purchased from an non-authorized dealer, complete the out of warranty repair order form and follow the instructions.

Q. On the bottom base of the unit where the batteries are placed, should there be a cover to contain the batteries?

A. We stopped supplying the cover because most people lost or broke it. It served no purpose so we removed it and do not offer it as a part of the winder.

Q. The watch holder (the plastic part or metal part on the one-watch winder) are quite big ! My wife's watches can't fit into the holder. Do you have anything smaller?

A. We have just introduced new watch springs that are smaller. They are available only in metal but do compress enough to get small watches on the winders. Please go to the parts and accessories page and you will see the new retaining springs that may be ordered.

Q. I have noticed that some of my watches do not rotate, but sometimes slip on the rubber gasket.

A. We have developed a retaining spring that incorporates rubber in the "wheel." Sometimes this "O" ring gets dirt or oil on it, as can the rubber track that surrounds the center of the four-watch winder. Dampen a cloth with Windex, soap and water or other cleaner that does not contain alcohol, and clean the rubber parts. This should restore the traction to the unit.

Q. I want to keep my watchwinder near the headboard of my bed. What is the sound level of the motors?

A. If you are keeping your watchwinder near the bed, here are the sound levels you can expect:

• One-Watch Battery Winder:
  Noticeable--for very sound sleepers, you can hear the motor easily.
  
  
• Cordoba Two-Watch Genuine Leather Winder:
  Almost Silent--hard to hear, can be kept near bed.
  
  
• Four-Watch Electric:
  Almost Silent--hard to hear, can be kept near bed.
  
  
• Collector Nine-Watch Winder with Storage:
  Very Quiet--can be kept near bed if sound sleeper, there is some minor motor noise.

Q. Why is there a black residue on my winder?

We have received reports of a black residue accumulating on the JFABE2i Two-Watch, JFABE2ic Classic Two-Watch and JFABE1I One-Watch Winders. At first glance, the residue appears to be oil or graphite. However, there is no oil or graphite inside the winder or the motor housing. The residue is the result of improper use of the winder resulting in the aluminum shaft subsequently grinding on the rosette.

To avoid this from happening, please make sure you have seated the retaining spring properly on the winder. For the JFABE1i One-Watch Winder, the retaining spring should be pushed down far enough so that the "arrow" is almost touching the face of the winder.

For the JFABE2i and JFABE2ic Classic Two-Watch Winders, the shaft must be engaged with the cross shaft on the winder. In order to assure that this is far enough, please make sure that the retaining spring can not be easily,turned by hand. The engagement of the notch on the retaining spring and the cross peg on the shaft of the winder should be in full contact. There should be no play between the two.