Orbita Sparta watch winder review

Orbita have a fantastic reputation within the watch and watch winder world as a top-class, US-made brand specialising in designing and producing high-quality watch winders that are both visually classy and have unrivalled reliability.

In this Orbita watch winder review, we’re going to look at the Orbita Sparta winder and pull out the key features and benefits so, if you are thinking about buying it, you can be certain if it’s really the right winder for you.

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Look & feel

This Orbita single watch winder is lightweight and compact and is Orbita’s entry-level option for those wanting to get a feel of this luxury watch accessory brand at a relatively cost-effective price. 

It has a textured aluminium and plastic frame with matt black sides. This finish isn’t as top quality and luxury as you might expect for the price.

The internal module has a foam cushion, which is ideal for watches with leather or metal straps, and will keep the watch secure without the risk of scratching or damage.

The cushions fits into the drive cup, which is titled at 60 degrees to the horizontal. This means the watch can’t fall out of the winder, again making sure the watch is unlikely to be damaged, which will put many minds at ease. This is another great feature that sets it apart from the cheaper winders, where we’ve heard reports of watches falling out of the winding module.

Size

The Orbita Sparta single winder is 5.8 x 9.5 x 4.2 inches. This compact size, coupled with the lack of power cord (see later), means it can fit into a small drawer, a cabinet, or a lock box easily. This added portability of the winder is one of the great reasons for its popularity among watch enthusiasts.

Rotorwind movement

This winder has the Orbita patented Rotorwind motion. This is an incredible innovative winding programme, where the motor engages and draws power to move the winding module for one full initial oscillation.

However, the drive cup then swings only under the force of gravity, without any further use of power. All the following swings are powered by inertia, until it comes to rest. Like a luxury Newton’s cradle. 

This drastically increases the longevity of the batteries and the motors, which makes these winders some of the most reliable on the market. The batteries will fail long before the motor wears out.

Whereas, other watch winders typically draw power for every rotation, which often means the motors wear out fairly quickly. 

This is probably why so many people have been able to wind their watches using the Orbita Sparta winder for months and years without the motor burning out!

Programmes & settings

The Orbita Sparta winder has two winding programmes, operated from a switch is behind the watch cup:

• The first initiates the winding programme every 10 minutes
• The second initiates the winding programme every 15 minutes. 

The 10-minute setting is best for watches that require 900-950 turns per day or more. For those watches that need 700-750 turns per day, the 15-minute setting would work best.

The winder is powered by four lithium batteries, which are included. It doesn’t have a power cord for mains power, but runs solely off the batteries. Due to the power demands, these batteries should last a very long time – we’ve heard stories where the lithium batteries have lasted 5 and 6 years!

The compact size, as well as the lack of power cord, means the watch winder can be stored away in a cabinet, drawer or safe easily, keeping any expensive watches out of view.

The only downside is that batteries can be quite expensive ($50 for a set of two); however, this is cheaper than needing to replace a whole winder because the motors are burned out!

Who is the Orbita Sparta winder for?

Lots of people come back to the Orbita brand again and again due to their reliability. You simply can’t beat the dependable nature of the Orbita winders. They have been known to last for years and years with no problems – this is why we love them and think this winder is great as a first time winder for someone looking to get into the higher-end of the watch winder market.

Although the Orbita Sparta winder is not as cheap as some of the other single winders, you really get what you pay for with watch winders, and the reliability should make up for this.

It is let down slightly by the small number of programme settings, which might not be suitable for a watch that needs over 900 TPD. This winder would also not be a great choice if you have a large number of watches to wind simultaneously.

However, some people have also had luck in using this winder to charge a Seiko Kinetic Watch, although we’d recommend testing this first as some kinetic watches just don’t wind on a watch winder for automatic watches.

All in all, this is a fantastic single winder and, if you can afford it, it’s well worth every penny for the ability to lock it away in a cabinet and the piece of mind that comes with the incredible reliability of the product.

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