There are a few factors that go into this, but in general, they can produce very small outbursts of sound, without being disrupting to your daily life. Your watch winder quality is going to play into how loud it gets, but it’s also about how heavy your watches are.
Most watch winders don’t display the usual weight they can hold, because one way or another, they're going to wind up your watch. When it goes over a certain weight, especially watches with sturdy steel bracelets, there’s going to be a light, pitter-patter-sounding knocking noise.
These sounds occur from the mechanical movement inside the winder. These are very fine-tuned pieces of equipment, so they’re designed to hold a specific weight range before they start knocking around. It’s best to leave your winder in the walk-in and keep the door closed, or leave it in the guest room while it’s tending to your watch’s movement.
If it’s very, very loud and sounds like someone’s knocking on the door, it’s what the watch collector community calls “wobbly winder disease,” which can cause you to get it checked out, YouTube how to fix it yourself, or consider getting a new one. Before these issues occur, use our guide to properly maintain and clean your watch winder, and you shouldn’t run into many problems along the way.