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 1 ½” wide by 3 ⅜” tall, 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
I sized the pillows by cutting up a packing sponge (that has give like a pillow) sized to fit the watch box slot and one of my watches.
With a wrist of 5.75″, the foam cutout came to W=40mm, L=70mm, H=34mm.
I modified the length and height by 2mm (W=40mm, L=68mm, H=32mm) to prevent my leather watch straps from stretching. If you only have bracelets, use your original measurements for a nicer, snug fit. In hindsight, I’d have purchased extra pillows in two sizes (one for straps and then for bracelets) and add a stitch myself to distinguish between them.
My pillows came from BagsBagsHome who also provided a 12% discount link (or use the code P008RR) to share in this write-up. * I do not get any proceeds from this.
Send a message to BagsBagsHome asking for custom pillows. Here was what I wrote,
“Hi, I’d like to order custom velvet pillows, 15x, black, W=40mm, L=68mm, H=32mm. 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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