Affordable but Luxury Wolf Windsor Watch Box
“Luxury with Room for Improvement”
The Heritage Wolf Windsor watch box series is an appealing luxury storage solution for watch enthusiasts, often available at significant 50% – 70% discounts. Intrigued by the value proposition, I quickly acquired one for myself after reading and watching several reviews.
However, as the saying goes, “too good to be true” proved… well true. While the watch box exceeded my expectations, it fell short in function, primarily due to inadequately designed pillows.
In this review, I explore the flaws, strengths, and an inexpensive solution to replace the pillows.
Piano Hinge
Piano hinges are more durable, stable and hold more weight over traditional hinges.
Glass Cover
The tempered glass cover is clear with leather trimming that smartly showcases your collection.
Completing the look, the lid is affixed with classic and durable piano hinges.
Pillows
Poorly designed, these pillows are too narrow for their slots and feel cheap..
Lock & Key
The chrome hardware adds a nice touch and some of visual contrast.
Watch Box
Quality black pebble vegan leather, stitched edges and luxurious silk satin grey lining.
The Flaws
The most significant flaw in the Windsor watch box is its poorly designed pillows, which are too narrow and fail to secure their watches. As a result, the slightest movement can cause the watch to slide around within the slot. This issue is further exacerbated by the slanted base, which, although intended to be advantageous, contributes to the watch’s instability.
In addition,
- Size Limitations: The slots at 40mm wide and 70mm long, are well proportioned to the box, but best suited for watches in the 34-40mm range. Larger diver watches, at 40mm, can look crowded and may not fit comfortably in the given slots.
- Absorbent Lining: The lining possesses a drawback of absorbing odours. Buyers should be cautious when purchasing a used box, as lingering odours from previous owners might be challenging to eliminate entirely. My first box inherited a medicinal herb scent.
- Unimpressive Pillows: The pillows lack compressibility and padding for different wrists. In hand, they feel cheap and lightweight, diminishing the overall quality of the watch box.
Having said all that, pictures and even videos don’t do justice to how spectacular the watches looked under the glass display. The Wolf Windsor exudes luxury; from piano hinges, chrome hardware, black pebble leather to textured silk linings.
Despite the initial disappointment, it was easily resolved – custom velvet pillows for $20 USD.
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Custom Velvet Pillows
Replacing the stock pillows in the Wolf Windsor watch box with custom velvet ones turned it into a near-perfect storage solution. This simple inexpensive modification perfectly secures each timepiece and elevates the overall presentation, making the watch box a true value proposition.
I found BagsBagsHome on Etsy, a seller who crafts custom velvet pillows in various sizes.
Measure the Watch Slot – The Windsor’s slots are 40mm wide x 85mm long, with a depth that starts at 40mm on the lower end and slopes to 26mm on the higher end.
Prototype – I used an old packing foam, shaving it down to test the fit in the watch slot. It had just the right amount of give to simulate how a watch would be strapped on. With a wrist of 5.75″, the foam cutout came to W=40mm, L=70mm, and H=34mm.
Consider Strap Type – If you’re using leather straps, going a couple of millimetres smaller in depth helps avoid unnecessary stretching. My leather strap pillows came out to be (W=40mm, L=68mm, H=32mm)
Adjust for a Better Fit – In hindsight, I’d have increased the width by +4mm, to have the pillows sit more firmly in their slots. The final measurements then for a 5.75″ wrist,
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- W=44mm, L=68mm, H=32mm for Leather
- W=44mm, L=70mm, H=34mm for Bracelet
- I didn’t, but in hindsight, I would have asked them to mark the back to distinguish between pillow sizes.
Max Width – After testing a third order, I would not recommend pillow wider then 48mm. W=51mm, L=75mm, H=25 worked but I found them too snug.
Ordering
BagsBagsHome provided a 12% discount link (or use the code P008RR) to share in this write-up. * I do not get any proceeds from this.
To custom order, you must message BagsBagsHome. you can use this template,
“Hi, I’d like to order custom velvet pillows, 15x 44mm, L=68mm, H=32mm and W=44mm and 15x L=70mm, H=34mm. Please let me know the instructions for ordering”.
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How It Turned Out
With custom-fit pillows, the watches sit securely in the box. The pillows provide just the right amount of give and can be placed along the slanted base or horizontally; it’s a small thing but has a huge impact on giving flexibility (at various heights or distances) while ensuring your watch dials remain fully visible.
The black velvet background also enhances the watch’s display while preventing strap holes from stretching out.
One area I’d improve on is the pillow stuffings. The seller used fine white thread-like stuffing which can sometimes come through. Nothing a 3m Lint Roller can’t fix, but if available, I’d pick a different thicker and black stuffing.
Finally, I’d like it if Wolf had the option for UV-Protective and/or Anti-Glare glass like Tru Vue Museum Glass. Then I could have the watches near my window without worrying about unnecessary aging of the dial.
If you’ve purchased your own Wolf Windsor Watch Box and made modifications or have additional ideas, I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!
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Where to Buy
For potential buyers, I recommend the black and grey colourway. I was gifted the orange and was unable to source matching pillow fabric. Some deals I found for the boxes:
- $130 USD (March 2023) for a Ten-Piece at Amazon (this was an error per the comments, they labelled and price it as a Five-Piece, and shipped the Ten-Piece); retail $315 USD.
- $124 USD for a Fifteen Piece at Jomashop during Black Friday Preview (2024) and Valentine’s (2023) sales; retail $405 USD.
- eBay – bids and best offers.
- Watch Forums (search via Watch Patrol) and Facebook Marketplace have the best prices.
If buying used, ask about the household environment it came from; one of my boxes has a mint scent, but it could have easily gone the wrong way.
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Hi, thanks for the thorough review.
I have the same Wolf watch box and am also having issues with the included pillows. I have smaller wrists (around 6.5-7 inches) and find the pillows too rigid for my watches with leather straps and deployant clasps to comfortably close around without stretching the leather.
Do those custom pillows you ordered have a lot of give around the middle?
I own this travel watch case I got from Amazon that comes with foam pillows and find the give to be perfect for all of my watches, and I’m hoping the custom pillows you suggested will be similar.
https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Separation-automatic-scratch-free-microfiber/dp/B07PNZTF4M?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1
I know you listed the dimensions for the custom pillows you ordered, but knowing what you know now, would you still recommend that same dimensions? Any additional insights would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Hi Tim,
Appreciate your comments and questions.
The custom pillows do have significant give. I watched the Amazon watch case video review and it looks like the custom pillows have slightly more give than the foam ones shown.
On hindsight, I might have gone up 4 more millimetres. For larger wrists, some things to watch out for: make the pillows no wider than 48mm, and wider pillows create more friction to better hold heavier watches in place (I’ve added these points to the blog).
In addition to ordering a size for leather and another for your bracelet, consider ordering some additional sample sizes (larger and smaller).