The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Thanks to a great sale by Driver8, I've got me a winder now for my Chrono Evo. It's a SwissKubik winder, with a custom touch of the IWC branding. It kind of feels like heresy to have my Ling in the IWC-branded winder, but.... ehhhh.... whatcha gonna do?

http://www.swisskubik.com/#/en/

VERY impressed with it so far. Has a nice bulk/heft to the unit, while still in the compact cube. The pull-out "pillow" mount is nicely designed and spring-loaded, to fit the size of any watch you put in it. Front acrylic door pops right open to the 90 degree angle to put the watch in, or take it out, and then closes right up. Rotates nice, slow, and smooth, low-powered. And it's QUIET! I have it in my bathroom vanity, but would have no problem putting it anything more than about 12" from where my sleeping head lies if I had to keep it next to the bed. Every time it completes a cycle, it even rotates the watch back to the vertical position, so it looks sharp in the case.

Fully programmable, too, and that's the only part I'm running into a snag. Hopefully one of you guys know these winders and can give advice. You can download a custom program from the SwissKubik website, which I've done. The installation is in French, but it seems to install okay, and then runs okay in English. But the program won't recognize the winder unit, and I've even tried it on two computers, running Vista and XP. Right now I'm using a standard USB-to-mini-USB cable. Anybody know if this requires a special proprietary Kubik USB cable? I've got some E-mails and calls into Kubik retailers/distributors, but haven't heard back. The default is 950 rotations per day, alternating clockwise and counterclockwise. I'm trying to make it exact for my Evo, of 800 turns per day, CW only.

Most of these pics are Driver8's, the last one is a grainy shot of my actual Evo in the winder. Looks better in person, and I'll see if I can get a better shot.

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

Glad he's gone to a good home Chris!

Looks like it was taylor-made for your Chronomat too!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Uhhhhhh... I checked into what it takes to program this winder. SwissKubik makes a programming package, including the USB cable, software, and a USB dongle. Got to have all 3 to work. The price? $285. Ummm.... yeah, don't think that'll work for me. Sorry.

So will it be bad for my Chrono at all, if I keep it at the default settings of both clockwise AND counterclockwise, 100 turns per day? [EDIT: That should read 1000 tpd, not 100]

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

Chris I think the Chronomat Evo requires at least 800 tpd.

From Orbita's site.
Chronomat Evolution Caliber B13 COSC CW 800

You mentioned earlier that default was 950 so I assume that 100 is a typo - that's too slow to keep anything wound.

I'm assuming that there are rest cycles (Driver8 wouldn't have used it otherwise) so there are no issues with using it on the default setting. However if the default is clockwise and anti-clockwise as you say then I assume that it's 475 in each direction and that won't be enough to keey a Chronomat wound as that only winds in one direction.

Holy smoke! I'd never have thought it was that much!!!! Looking at their site it seems like you just need a USB cable, and then download the software off the site!

How can they justify that price?


Just on this point, I never used it at all (it was brand new), so don't have a clue. Sorry.

But I agree with Roff that the standard setting will be fine for a Chronomat.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

The software can be downloaded from them here: http://www.swisskubik.com/#/en/supp/software/

From the picture, the USB cable appears to be a standard USB 'Mini-B' connector. Cables for that are available from newegg for $2.29: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6812101027

Yeah, no worries, I'll get this figured out. First, yes, sorry, that was a typo and should have been 1000 turns per day, not 100.

I'm using the standard USB-to-mini-USB cable, and it's connecting just fine, but the computer won't recognize the winder. It's giving a message that the "USB key can not be found". Apparently, this is where SwissKubik makes it so you have to have the USB dongle that's part of their programming package, to keep their proprietary software secure. Kind of silly, then, that they offer the software for download on their website, when you still have to buy their programming package to get the USB key. Sadly, I've confirmed this with a SwissKubik dealer, and SwissKubik's main distributor for the USA, in Florida. They even called back to Ireland and Switzerland, and can't figure out why they offer the software for download.

So it seems the way to get a SwissKubik winder programmed, is when you buy it from a dealer, to have them program it for you before taking possession. Instead of me buying the entire programming package, I think what I'll do is, the next time I'm travelling somewhere there's a dealer, I'll just bring along the winder and ask if they could program it for me real quick.

I appreciate the help, guys. The part about rotating counterclockwise, that's not going to have any adverse effect on the watch, if it only winds clockwise, is it?

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

You can only program the winder at a dealer? That's completely lame. What are they trying to prevent?

I would never buy one of these winders after learning this.

It's not going to hurt the watch at all, my concern would simply be that it's not getting enough clockwise turns to keep it fully wound - presumably 1,000 tpd = 500 clockwise and 500 anti-clockwise, which with a calibre 13 amounts to only 500 winding revolutions against a need for 800.

To simplify the math somewhat that will cause the watch to run down from a full reserve in a little over 4 1/2 days. That's assuming that the power reserve is linear based on the mainspring wind which is incorrect, but close enough.

Nice, I have an IWC winder by Wolf Designs. They look very modern and functions great.

I'm going to test it out and see what happens--I'll leave it on the winder for a week or so without wearing it, and see if/when the watch stops.

As for whether you NEED a dealer to program it, well, I guess you always have the option of buying the programming kit yourself for $285, or whatever. And the winder does run just fine out of the box as it is. But to customize it, yeah, the "easiest" thing to do is just have a dealer program it to the exact settings that you want, either when you buy it, or if you're like me, just take it to a dealer when you can.

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

saw an ad for these, they look crazy on their site, anyone have any info as far as price, distribution?

Do you need to spend that much on one? I am awaiting delivery of my Blackbird which will only be worn on weekends so i guess i may need a winder. Can any harm come from using a different type, or indeed not using one at all and allowing it to stop. Sorry for the dumb question but i am new to these super watches.

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Breitling Blackbird (original)
Oris TT1 lume 44mm
TAG Professional 2000
Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird

No harm from letting it stop, it just becomes a bit annoying having to wind it and reset the date whenever you use it so it's more for convenience. They come in all price ranges from cheap to very expensive and there doesn't seem to be any consensus over the quality of one brand over another. Some people have relatively cheap brands that perform nicely and vice-versa. You need to look for one that will handle the number of watches you want to rotate and make sure that the turns per day is adequate for your particular watch and the direction of rotation is correct. A rest period to allow the mainspring to unwind is desirable as well.