# A watch winder that keeps your automatic watch running

Skip a few days and an automatic watch dies. This Adafruit build spins it on schedule, using a DC motor, a Circuit Playground Express and LEGO-compatible bricks.

- Category: Hardware (build)
- Made by: Adafruit on Adafruit Blog
- Original: https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/10/23/automatic-mechanical-watch-winder-adafruitlearnsystem/
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-watch-winder-that-keeps-your-automatic-watch-running

## Can I build this?

- Difficulty: Intermediate
- AI-buildability: 3/5 (The code is a simple timed motor routine that AI can write easily, but the brick drive train, motor mounting and watch holder need hands-on assembly and tuning.)
- Time: A weekend
- Cost: $50–90
- Parts: Circuit Playground Express, Crickit board, DC motor
- Tools: soldering iron, LEGO Technic parts

Estimates based on the original write-up. How the AI-buildability score works: https://afterware.xyz/ai-buildability

## Build sheet

- Controller: Circuit Playground Express
- Driver: Crickit board
- Language: MakeCode (visual)
- Frame: LEGO-compatible bricks

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "A watch winder that keeps your automatic watch running" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-watch-winder-that-keeps-your-automatic-watch-running

Write a MakeCode Arcade or CircuitPython program for a Circuit Playground Express driving a DC motor through a Crickit board. Run the motor for a set number of seconds at fixed intervals so a mechanical watch on a LEGO-brick cradle is turned a set number of times per day. Add a button to pause and a light to show when it is running.
```

## Story

An automatic watch runs on wrist motion, so leave it on a nightstand for a couple of days and the mainspring unwinds until the watch stops. You then have to reset the time and date. This project fixes that by turning the watch for you on a schedule.

A small DC motor drives the winder, powered by a Circuit Playground Express and a Crickit board. The program is written visually in MakeCode. The gearing and the frame are built from LEGO-compatible bricks, so the whole contraption stays easy to take apart and change.

The appeal is the mix: a cheap, approachable microcontroller, a drive train you can rebuild from bricks, and a watch that stays set. Adafruit's full guide has the details.

Tags: watch winder, circuit playground express, makecode, lego technic, dc motor, adafruit crickit

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