Method and device for winding at least one thin elongated fiber optical element onto a rotating drum so as to form a closely wound coil of the fiber optical element in making a fiber optical system from the coil. The fiber optical element is fed to the drum from a direction in retard of the displacement of the point on the drum at which the fiber optical element successively contacts the drum so as to be wound thereon as the drum rotates, thus permitting the fiber optical element windings to be wound on the drum in close contact with each other. An elastic roller is provided in elastically pressing contact with the drum along the entire portion on the drum where the fiber optical element contacts the drum as the same is rotated, thus positively preventing adjacent windings of the fiber optical element to overlap while permitting the adjacent windings on the drum to be kept in close contact with each other.