I have 2 automatic watches, and I have always been concerned about the potential damage to the mechanism if they are left to wind down after a conversation with an avid watch collector a few years ago! The trouble was, that most of the Automatic winders were extremely expensive machines and I simply couldn't afford them. Basically then, I'd wear the watches on alternate days to keep them going, which was a bit of a nuisance when going on holiday.
I bought this machine a couple of weeks ago, and it has been excellent so far! The motor is quiet - the machine is next to our bed and it doesn't disturb my wife, and it has a selection of 4 timing "programs", and 3 settings - rotate clockwise, rotate anti clockwise, and an "auto" setting. I don't keep an eye on the thing, but I have the impression that on auto, the direction of rotation alternates.
I haven't given it 5 stars only because I've only had it for a couple of weeks, so I don't know what it's service life is going to be, but so far I've been very happy with it. It's build is basically lighweight plastic, but for £38 (from tmc) you wouldn't expect mahogany!