@dlmac
A watch winder is to keep a watch wound that you plan on wearing in the near future. Leaving it on the winder for five years is like leaving a car engine running while it sits in the driveway...for five years.
Plus, some older watches don't have a built in mechanism to prevent the watch from being overwound. So it can be
really bad as well. Some say to leave modern automatic watches on the winder all the time. It's my opinion that it creates unnecessary wear if they are only worn a few times a year. Best advice is to talk to a professional about your specific watch and what they would recommend.
In any event, please take it off the winder and check to see how well it keeps time. This can be done professionally a watch shop with a timegrapher that listens to the watch internals and will give you readings like rate, amplitude and error...aka beat error. This test takes a couple of minutes to get an idea of how the watch is performing. The alternative is to set it down for 24 hours and see how far off it is the next day before going to for the professional evaluation.
I'll let you look up the specs on what kind of accuracy a watch should have because there are many different standards that need to be considered. Along with what
you find acceptable. I've seen watch owners who really don't care about the accuracy. They just wanted something nice on their wrist that would keep reasonable time for a week or so. Your call.
Might not be a bad idea to have it serviced. So that when you do decide to wear it the time will be accurate. Or when you hand it down to the next generation, it's all ready to go. Make sure you go to a Rolex Authorized Dealer for the repairs.
