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Eric Wind - Aly & AJ's Favorite Watch Dealer
1.4k Plays2 years ago
If you’re into watches, you 100% know the name Eric Wind. For those that don’t, well you’re welcome. Eric’s the founder of Wind Vintage which he launched in 2017, after a career at Christie’s auction house and has since become a merited authority in the watch world, which can be proven by just about every publication quoting him in their articles. He’s sourced watches for the movie Crazy Rich Asians, the talented gals Aly & AJ, amongst many other start-studded collectors. But don’t let that scare you away, Eric sources watches of all kinds at all price-points for anybody. Not only does he always keep a great stock on his website, but he’s also been sourcing vintage watches for Mr. Porter which is one of the most sophisticated collabs I’ve seen. Eric has a lot of projects in the works, like his help with the Rowing Blazers x Seiko watches (which you should be seeing another drop very soon), as well as his own podcast, Significant Watches which he shares with a great team. At the end of the day, Eric’s one of the few people in the watch industry that not a single person has a bad thing to say in his regard. He’s honest, friendly, knowledgeable, and someone I am grateful to have become friends with over the years. Please enjoy, this is Eric Wind for Collectors Gene Radio.
- Aly & AJ Talking Watches - https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/talking-watches-with-aly-and-aj
- Rowing Blazers x Seiko Collab - https://www.strictlyvintagewatches.com/hands-on-with-the-latest-rowing-blazers-x-seiko-releases
- Significant Watches Podcast - https://www.strictlyvintagewatches.com/significant-watches-podcast
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Transcript
Introduction and Mission
00:00:00
Speaker
One of my core missions when I wake up every day is to try to promote vintage watches, to educate, to help people get excited about vintage watches, learn about vintage watches. And if you can get vintage watches in front of people who are spending serious money on fashion, then you're doing something positive for vintage watches.
Podcast and Guest Introduction
00:00:26
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? And welcome to Collectors Gene Radio. I'm your host, Cameron Steiner, and I'm joined by my co-host and brother, Ryan. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the Collectors Gene. That's right. And as always, please subscribe and leave a review for us. It truly helps. We hope you enjoy the pod. Let's go.
00:00:59
Speaker
If you're into watches, you 100% know the name Eric Wind. And for those that don't, well, you're welcome. Eric's the founder of Wind Vintage, which he launched in 2017 after a career at Christie's Auction House, and has since become a merited authority in the watch world, which can easily be proven by just about every publication quoting him in their articles.
00:01:22
Speaker
He sourced watches for the movie Crazy Rich Asians, The Talented Gals Alley in AJ, amongst many other star-studded collectors. But don't let that scare you away, because Eric actually sources watches of all kinds, at all price points, for anybody. Not only does he always keep a great stock on his website, but he's also been sourcing vintage watches for Mr. Porter, which has been one of the most sophisticated collabs that I've seen.
Collaborations and Projects
00:01:48
Speaker
Eric has a lot of projects in the works, like his help with the rowing blazers, Seiko watches, which you should probably be seeing another drop very soon here, as well as his own podcast, Significant Watches, which he shares with a great team. At the end of the day, Eric's just one of the few people in the watch industry that not a single person has a bad thing to say in his regard. He's honest, friendly, knowledgeable, and someone I am grateful to have become friends with over the years.
00:02:14
Speaker
Please enjoy. This is Eric Wind for Collector's Gene Radio. Eric Wind, how are you doing,
Conversations and Personal Stories
00:02:21
Speaker
my friend? Great. How about you, Cameron Ross-Steiner? I'm doing good. I feel like you can only call me by my full name. I think it's one of the Ten Commandments. Yeah. I don't know which religion, but you're not the first person to tell me that. No, it's good.
00:02:40
Speaker
Let's, I haven't done this actually yet, but let's do a little wrist check. What are you wearing now or what were you wearing today? Cause now it's the end of the evening. I'm wearing the new rowing blazers X Seiko five sports watch that's coming out on October 27th. Oh wow. All right. Day before my birthday, I might have to stay up all night to try and stay up all night. I know the demand is high on those. It'll be strong. Yeah. It's time to, time to step up.
00:03:11
Speaker
It's time for me to step up. Very good. Today, I'm rocking actually a watch I posted a picture of today, which is a Ralph Lauren Slim Classique in white gold with a Piaget movement. A watch I hunted for for a really long time and kind of a crazy story. I was the underbitter at the auction house and then I hounded the auction house to let me know if the buyer backed out and my luck he did so.
00:03:39
Speaker
It's crazy. I'm still waiting for you to sell me a Ralph Lauren Safari one day. You know what? I don't want to do that. Let me just find one for you. Okay, that sounds good. I owe you enough at this point. No, that's good. Great. So Eric, it's been a long time since we last saw each other. Last time I saw you, you were in Phoenix speaking at an event and we were lucky enough to get some drinks with each other. It was awesome.
00:04:07
Speaker
the pleasure of being picked up at the airport by Cameron Ross Steiner. It's always fun to meet people that way for the first time. And then we had a good drink with your brother Jason and enjoyed seeing your collection, your gold Royal Oak and other hype items. And it's been fun to see your collection kind of evolve and change over the years.
00:04:32
Speaker
Well, I appreciate that. You're a man of taste, especially when it comes to watches, so definitely appreciate it. For those of you listening at home, I always say, Cameron Ross Steiner has the fanciest taste. He's always wanting to rock like crazy Cartiers.
00:04:50
Speaker
Ralph Lauren watches that are very undervalued, but very cool. And that were very expensive, you know, exactly to go. And he's always finding kind of hidden gems. Just this week, I learned about a new Cartier model from Cameron, the Cartier Arcade, which I had never seen before, never heard the name really. He loves to dive into the obscure corners of these very elegant watches, ideally with
00:05:20
Speaker
white lacquer dials and roman numerals in any sort of variety of shapes which is the definition of cardi A exactly exactly and occasionally other other brands to yeah that that arcades kind of a fun watch because.
00:05:37
Speaker
I kind of came about it like I had never seen one before. My wife and I did our honeymoon in Paris. I just was admiring the architecture in Paris. When you look up at some of these apartment buildings, the windows are really the exact same shape as the arcade.
00:05:54
Speaker
Yeah. And when I saw the arcade, you know, with a Paris side dial, all I could think of was where the inspiration came from, from Cartier Paris when they were creating this watch. And who knows, you know, the real story. It's, uh, I think it's the runner up to the, the Cartier crash story. Yeah. It's the next crash, the arcade. You heard it here first. Yeah, exactly. Where did you find the watch?
00:06:18
Speaker
I found that watch in Japan actually, and I've had a hard time finding them. The one that I got actually happens to be the PM, so the smaller size. There is an LM, a larger model, but I don't...
00:06:36
Speaker
even harder to find. I just opted for the small one. It's the same dimension. Put me down for an LM when you find one. You don't bother yourself. Hey, I've been able to source a couple in my search, so I definitely can shoot you an email where you can find a couple. Just send me a text. Yeah, I sure will. I always forget I have your number. You do.
00:07:02
Speaker
Put me on the on the guest list with Ali and AJ of having Eric wins number. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. We'll definitely get to that a little later. But yeah, there's there's a lot online obviously about the trajectory of your career in getting into watches and stuff. So I don't want to
00:07:18
Speaker
Touch on that too much. I think what you're doing now is the most important, but just briefly got your MBA at Oxford. You did a little biofuel venture. You were writing at hot dinky. Um, after that you joined Christie's, which ultimately led you to starting wind vinches. That's right. That's wonderful. That's a very nice quick synopsis. I like it. I've been reciting that before bed for, uh, for a long time to make sure I get it right. Perfect. And, and I guess, you know, a good way to start here is
00:07:49
Speaker
When you were working at Christie's, was there really a plan to go out on your own and start wind vintage?
Business and Operations
00:07:55
Speaker
No plan whatsoever. I was enjoying Christie's, certainly sucked a lot of marrow out of that bone and then realized there was not much marrow left in terms of the bone. It was time to
00:08:13
Speaker
There was such astronomical growth, I would say, in terms of my knowledge, my public presence in the press and with collectors, networking around the world, etc. And then if you were looking at it like a graph, it was like a big ramp up.
00:08:34
Speaker
For the foreseeable future it was going to be a very minor incline like if you're on a treadmill like a one or two instead of a five or some five plus level on a treadmill so Yeah, and the other problem is you just have no time not that I have a lot now, but I get to be my own boss there and
00:08:58
Speaker
you are constantly sourcing watches for auction and then trying to sell them. So you have a great group of clients who want your time or want your help finding things but you just can't do it. So it was time to move on.
00:09:15
Speaker
Well, it seems like it's definitely been a great move for you. I mean, you're in every single ounce of press that comes out. They're always quoting you. It's been really fun and impressive to watch your business kind of grow over the last few years that at least I've been collecting, following you and chatting with you. So definitely hats off and claps to you. Thanks so much. It's great to certainly very happy about where I am in the
00:09:45
Speaker
world of watches at this point and just continuing to grow. Sure. Obviously, anyone who knows about watches knows about you, but for any of our listeners or my friends and family who don't know too much about watches and vintage watch dealing, you have a website, windvintage.com, where people can go on and see some of the watches that you have for sale.
00:10:08
Speaker
The truth is that a lot of the watches that you sell go behind closed doors. Would you say that's true between all dealers? Not all dealers, but it comes down to
00:10:22
Speaker
a little bit the personality of some dealers. Some just want to throw it out there and create a feeding frenzy with every watch or try to. If I have good clients who I know are looking for things, I would rather deal with them directly than throw it out there because I can tell you there are a lot of time wasters. When you put something up, you'll get tons of people who commit and then back out.
00:10:50
Speaker
You have no idea who they are and it's a tough situation on that front. I prefer to sell it to a known client. The positive is if I already have a relationship with them, I can resell the watch in the future for them or broker it to another client who might be looking for something. It hasn't been thrown out to the public.
00:11:15
Speaker
Yeah. Even if it has been put out to the public, you know, if a year or two has gone by and someone's looking for something, I can go back to that client and say, Hey, you're going to make a significant amount of money. I can make, I think, are you open to selling it? And they may say, no, I really love it. Or yes, I haven't been wearing it that much the last year or two. Uh, and let's let someone else enjoy it. Right. And then,
00:11:43
Speaker
on a whole other door of that, I guess, if people don't do too much research on you and your past.
00:11:52
Speaker
read all those articles on you. You've been able to source watches for movies like Crazy Rich Asians. You've obviously become very close with the amazing artists, Ali and AJ, amongst other big time actors and celebrities and whatnot. What did you think of their talking watches? It was incredible. I always find it, number one, a lot of fun when females
00:12:17
Speaker
do you know share their passion especially with watches just because that's my passion you know even with my wife like getting her excited about something that i'm getting for myself or something that she wants to be able to share passion whether
00:12:34
Speaker
It's with someone personal or just through a video like the talk and watches episode It's it's really cool to see and there's a lot of Female collectors out there that people I think would be really surprised to to know are super into this stuff So their episode was easily one of my favorites. It definitely helps that you have a little bit of position in that too, but Yeah, that's good. Yeah, I think it's stuff. It's incredible because they have such great taste I think it's one of the
00:13:03
Speaker
setting my own part of that aside and helping them build their collection. It's one of my favorite episodes just because they're genuinely enthusiastic and wanting to learn and it's very good for the hobby that it continued to grow beyond just men sitting in front of their computer screens to all kinds of different people, particularly half the earth. I think the cool part is that
00:13:33
Speaker
You know, they're playing a show sweating on stage wearing a vintage Audemars Piguet or Rolex or whatever it may be. And it's just, that's, that's the epitome of what collecting vintage watches should be. It shouldn't be a nerve wracking hobby. It should be.
00:13:50
Speaker
you're buying them to enjoy them, in my opinion. Exactly. Obviously, some stuff you don't want to get too crazy with, but I love the fact that they buy stuff that's super honest and they enjoy it and you can see it in photos of them playing at their shows. Yeah, that's awesome. They seem like a nice bunch. How did you get involved with them? It's one of those things where you can never anticipate
00:14:16
Speaker
how things go, but when I say it was summer 2018, I get an email from this gentleman out of the blue, like my email inbox every day, but earlier days, so not quite as many emails as I get now. And he was interested in a Breitling on my site and ended up purchasing it, not an expensive model,
00:14:42
Speaker
basically a chronomat, but a very, very nice condition one. Only the best. Yeah, it really was from the 60s. Then a few months go by and he said, hey, my sister-in-law is on this TV show, The Goldbergs. So at the end of that, I had no idea who this guy is. I just sold him a watch. He was in California.
00:15:08
Speaker
Then a few months go by, he said, my sister-in-law is kind of a notable person and is on this TV show, and she's interested in getting a watch to celebrate her TV show, The Goldbergs. And then I Google it and then realize, oh, he's married to Allie. I'm helping AJ find a watch. And then it goes from there. So I think
00:15:35
Speaker
The positive is they've had a positive experience collecting with me and I think if they had a negative experience early on then they probably wouldn't have gotten into watches in the same way.
00:15:50
Speaker
It's a very great thing for me to see people get inspired and get very into watches and be nerding out about different models and calibers and those sorts of things. So it all started from an email basically about a watch I had on my site. Amazing. And I mean, they're not the only celebrities, if you will, that
00:16:14
Speaker
You've had the pleasure of sourcing watches for, and we don't have to go into, you know, names. I'm sure a lot of people like to remain private, but I think it's important to note that these are the people that trust you. And if they're going to trust you, then anybody should trust you because obviously, you know, they have a lot of integrity for the things that they want and for their
00:16:35
Speaker
personal image and all that sort of stuff. And for them to trust a dealer who sells vintage watches, a lot of people who don't know about this stuff can get a little nervous when it comes to buying stuff like this. So I think it's important to note that you are the most trustworthy, friendly, honest dealer that I know of. Thank you, Cameron. That's very kind. Oh, for sure. That's what I try to strive to do every day, just help people.
00:17:04
Speaker
build really solid collections of solid honest watches and hopefully get inspired to keep building their collections.
00:17:15
Speaker
So to kind of touch on that as things are becoming more and more accessible online and the average person who doesn't know anything about watches can go on Google and search for a vintage Royal Oak or a vintage Submariner and they may come across your page or they may not. So as a vintage dealer who does have a big online presence, what are you doing besides a lot of these articles and whatnot that you're being quoted into, I guess kind of keep your business at the forefront?
00:17:45
Speaker
Really, it's not like I spend zero marketing dollars on Google or any of that sort of stuff or Instagram or Facebook. It's really just simple things. I started during the pandemic posting at least one photo a day on Instagram a day. Typically, that's really helped
00:18:10
Speaker
continue both for my own profile to keep growing and staying relevant but just remarketing for vintage watches generally to get people excited because I could kind of see that starting around 2018 modern was really beginning to eclipse vintage prior to that vintage was really the hot thing.
00:18:33
Speaker
And then obviously we really saw it take off in 2020, in 2021, modern, you know, skyrocketing while vintage held pretty steady. Unfortunately, we didn't see quite the same growth in values as like current production Daytonas and Royal Oaks and Nautilus models. But we're obviously seeing what goes up, must come down, like a lot of gravity.
00:19:03
Speaker
and vintage has been the steady girlfriend who's right there and very reliable and continues to look better with age. It's true. Why do you think that is? Because obviously, the modern market was so absurd and a lot of it still is absurd, but we're lucky to see that coming down. But it's really cool that vintage has
00:19:30
Speaker
stayed where it has been or has gone up in value. I mean, there's not much that I could say in vintage that I notice have really come down a ton. No, exactly. If anything, the only thing that might have had a correction or kind of subpar examples of watches, there's a lot more awareness about condition and originality.
00:19:53
Speaker
And maybe neo-vintage where there's, you know. Yeah. Neo-vintage isn't really vintage. It's kind of like modern light. So it's been hurt, but the reality is.
00:20:06
Speaker
if you show me a 1990s Submariner, I don't feel that passionate about it compared to like a 1960s or 70s Submariner. It's just a very modern watch with the dial and the white gold surrounds. So yeah, so obviously that neo-vintage category has come down significantly just as modern Rolex on the secondary market has come down.
00:20:32
Speaker
You know, the reality is vintage buyers are still committed, still liquid. They weren't like using a firm to buy their watches over whatever period of time. And vintage collectors are still looking for great pieces to add to their collection, no question. And there's a lot less of them. I mean, Rolex produces
00:20:59
Speaker
1.3 million plus watches per year. My guess is it's a lot more than that. We don't really know. And all these other brands are producing tens of thousands of watches.
00:21:11
Speaker
And I think probably more than we would know. So if you have something on the secondary market that's still being made, doesn't really make sense in my view to be paying 6x the retail value when it's still being pumped out literally as fast as the companies can do it. Right. And to kind of like go off of that, you know, obviously brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, they will
00:21:41
Speaker
you know, sell watches to people that are on their waiting lists or big clients, but they'll in the same turn also punish clients for selling watches that they get at retail.
00:21:55
Speaker
They haven't really changed the strategy of how to avoid that, and their watches keep popping up on the secondary market, yet they still keep doing things the same way that they have been for the last X amount of years, instead of selling watches to people who actually want to keep them. Is there even a way to combat that, or are they just figuring that they're just going to continue to do things the same way?
00:22:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's obviously the scare tactics work to some extent. You know, I have these conversations with people all the time who have purchased special, what I would call hype watches at retail and they then realize they want to sell them for a variety of reasons. Had a conversation along these lines today. One,
00:22:46
Speaker
I can't really wear all these watches that I've purchased because I'm going to get my wrist chopped off in Paris or London if I wear this watch. I don't even feel that comfortable in New York City or Los Angeles wearing it. First of all, second, it's not really the type of attention I want to draw professionally.
00:23:11
Speaker
you know, if you're meeting with clients and you're wearing some, you know, hyper expensive watch, and you're asking them for money that might not go so well, depending on the field of work you are in. And, you know, just that it's almost
00:23:30
Speaker
jumped the shark. Some of these models are too popular. So they then want to sell, but then they're definitely afraid of the company finding out or their retailer getting in trouble and them not being able to get additional watches and what can I do to
00:23:48
Speaker
you know, ensure that it won't get back to the retailer, you know, and sometimes they want the buyer to sign something or all kinds of crazy things, but typically that doesn't work because you're buying something and you can do whatever you want with it at the end of the day.
00:24:07
Speaker
I just tell the buyers in some cases, Hey, I know the buyer for this. They're solid. They're not going to screw you, but you still have to presume that somehow, some way it might get out or in some cases, Hey, I really don't have a buyer for this short of putting it on my website and crown of 24. I'm not going to post a photo of the serial number and put it online, but.
00:24:34
Speaker
It's really the Wild West. I can't control it once it's out of my hands. If you want this amount of money, I don't have someone for it at that level. And it's going to take putting it out there and kind of
00:24:48
Speaker
letting someone come find me who I don't know who they are who wants this watch. So that's happens all the time. Yeah, exactly. You have to value your relationship and future purchases with them versus, you know, wanting to make a significant profit and move on now. Right.
00:25:08
Speaker
Getting back to kind of some of your clients and repeat clients, if you will, and they're kind of collecting habits. I find that maybe a few years ago, it was almost more important to have some sort of collecting philosophy, whether that's the amount of pieces that you have or the quality or
Collecting Philosophies and Restorations
00:25:29
Speaker
the style of pieces that you can have. But what I've come to learn, at least with myself, is that my tastes are constantly changing.
00:25:36
Speaker
things that I think I want that I buy and then I get it in the mail and I'm like, it's maybe not as cool as I thought it was or whatnot. But do you think it's important for people to be more open-minded with that stuff or have some sort of collecting philosophy based on X amount of research? No, I think any collector is going to evolve. Most people start with
00:26:03
Speaker
interest more in the sportier watches, Rolex sports models and Royal Oaks Nautilus pieces, et cetera. And then a common theme I see is starting with those and moving toward more simple time only. Everyone loves a great vintage Patek Philippe Calatrava, et cetera.
00:26:29
Speaker
So at the end of the day, you're going to have a mix. You might not sell your vintage subs and GMTs or Daytonas. You might pare it down to a few you really like and want a great Speedmaster and some other things, and then maybe get into some of the independence and
00:26:49
Speaker
vintage time-only models. Watching your own collection develop, it's been positive for you to own a lot of different watches. That helps you hone in what you like, and a lot of collectors benefit from that.
00:27:09
Speaker
watches that you're interested in that you can own and wear and enjoy, the better you can kind of define what you really like to wear. So that was actually good advice I got from the chief operating officer of Hodinke and Ari Acosta back in the day. He had defined it as
00:27:31
Speaker
any new collector should want to own as many different watches as they can over time because it'll help you. Likewise, you don't have to necessarily go that route. You can go to auction previews and visit wind vintage and the like. Just trying on these watches is very important because for so many people,
00:27:56
Speaker
really is like a two-dimensional hobby. They're just looking on Instagram and forums. And that only gives you part of the picture because watches can wear very differently and be very different in person than just in the photos.
00:28:14
Speaker
Yeah, and I guess that that kind of leads me into the question for you as a dealer and a collector of watches. Do you have that battle between keeping watches for your personal collection and then putting them up for sale? Or is it kind of nice for you to, you know, get an influx of stock that you can wear for a little bit and see if it's something that you really want, maybe for your personal collection? And if not, then you at least got to see it in person, sell it and make some money.
00:28:44
Speaker
Yeah, every day it's a battle because I fall in love with pretty much every single day I'm getting new watches and there's something to fall in love with multiple times a week where I'm like, oh man, I love this. I didn't expect to love it. What's a modern watch that you've fallen in love with recently and a vintage watch that you could think of? Yeah.
00:29:12
Speaker
I have a 3970 EP on my site right now that isn't platinum. It's incredible. It's really gorgeous. I'm not really keeping 100k plus watches myself right now because that's a lot of money to take out of inventory. I turn my capital pretty quickly. If I'm keeping something like that,
00:29:39
Speaker
it means that I have less to buy other watches and turn them. If I was keeping watches at the 150 plus level, I would definitely be thinking about that versus a
00:29:56
Speaker
a common Nautilus or Aquanaut or something where it's not as interesting. That watch checks so many boxes. It's gorgeous, yeah. I like 3940s a lot as well. Also amazing. Yeah, just beautiful pieces. Those have really grown on me, I would say over the years.
00:30:25
Speaker
have dabbled with vintage Cartier as well. I'd love to get a jumbo tank in white gold. That's something I've been looking for for a long time in unpolished condition. That would be something I would keep. But I really haven't seen any good ones.
00:30:44
Speaker
many, many years. So keep your eyes open, Cameron, for me. I sure will. Anything Cartier and white gold is definitely special, especially when it's vintage. Yes, yeah. You're more disciplined than me because I don't mind as much if something's a little bit polished. I care more about dial and I know you care a ton about case and the integrity of that. Yeah, I care about both.
00:31:10
Speaker
For sure, for sure. The Frank Sinatra song, Love and Marriage, you can't have one without the other. So yeah, I'm always looking for something very special, condition-wise. Yeah, for sure. It's every week I'm falling in love with something, primarily vintage watches, and then wanting to keep it. Yep, absolutely. How do you feel about, because obviously you're
00:31:39
Speaker
big into originality and obviously that's important and whatnot but we're seeing or at least I've been seeing a lot more acceptance in the realm of refinished hands and loom plots and certain restoration and I understand that in most cases it's not acceptable but
00:31:59
Speaker
in the cases where it is acceptable, right, if the loom is falling out of the hands and it can be color-matched or anything like that. I mean, do you find that to be acceptable in certain circumstances? Yeah, I'm not a huge stickler about loom in the hands. You know, certain models, it basically doesn't exist where it's remained in the hands. You know, I think of the Submariner reference 6200, the original big crown.
00:32:26
Speaker
I can't personally think of an example where the loom hasn't fallen out of the hands and then been repaired. I haven't seen one. So does that mean you don't want to own any of those? Obviously not. It's one of the most spectacular vintage Submariners. So
00:32:47
Speaker
It's the equivalent of, as I say, a supermodel missing a tooth. It's not very attractive. For most vintage watches, the
00:33:02
Speaker
particularly with Rolex or Omega or things like that. The loom in the hands is not supported. It's not like it's sitting in a spoon. It's just completely exposed and gravity will make it kind of sag and fall out like a trampoline.
00:33:21
Speaker
So in that case, I mean, when that happens, do you think it's better to leave the hands without loom, for example, or send them to someone who's reputable who knows what they're doing and can, you know, reloom them? I think it's preferred to reloom the hands in a very
00:33:41
Speaker
you know, sympathetic way so they can match obviously the dial and texture and color and just disclose that that's been done. Right, as long as the price reflects it then. Yeah, and I honestly don't think there should be a big discount for that. It should be really more about the rest of the condition of the watch, the dial, the hands, etc.
00:34:06
Speaker
The positive with dials is loom typically does not fall off because it's supported on the back by the dial. We typically just see these issues with the hands. I think there's a whole growing movement that I'm part of that prefers original cases.
00:34:27
Speaker
that are ideally unpolished, which is a controversial word now. For sure it is. I prefer cases with the original architecture and lines. I think that, for me, makes a big difference and enjoying the watch. Yeah. Another thing that people have been doing that I just learned about is, and maybe I'm using the wrong word, but stabilizing the hands.
00:34:57
Speaker
where they're stabilized on the back. I'm sure that's an old technique, but is that something that's not seen as controversial? Yeah, that's not really controversial. The big thing is making sure it's done with glue that does not change the color of the hands.
00:35:17
Speaker
Again, it's almost semi-translucent. If you put certain types of glue on the back, it'll change the lume color, which is not something anyone wants. And I've seen that happen.
00:35:32
Speaker
I have no issue with stabilizing it otherwise because you see these micro fissures developing in vintage sport Rolex watches and then you want to have someone glue that so it doesn't break apart more and then suddenly fall out.
00:35:54
Speaker
Right. For everyone out there who's wondering who's trustworthy enough to go ahead and do this stuff, is there anyone that you can recommend to watch collectors and buyers that maybe want something relumed or hand stabilized that they could rest easy at night knowing that they're in good hands? No pun intended. Yeah.
00:36:18
Speaker
too thrilled with a lot of the people that do the loom work, to be honest, because it becomes very clear, particularly when you look with the UV light, that it's not matching and then you can see that almost in the color or texture. But someone who does a good job with
00:36:39
Speaker
stabilizing the hands. He may be unhappy, I call him out, because he doesn't want more of this type of work, but Dr. Greg Petronzi, who's true patina, does a good job stabilizing hands, but he typically, you know, he had such demand for that. He doesn't just do it solo now. He requires it be done as part of a service.
00:37:04
Speaker
So there's other people as well, but you want to make sure they have the right glue, otherwise the hands will literally look different. Yeah, definitely have to be careful with that stuff. Yeah, you don't want to be the first time someone does that. You want to be someone who's done it many times, and we haven't seen the hand loom change color over time.
00:37:30
Speaker
Right. And I guess either way, we'll always have the internet trolls who like to give their unsolicited opinions on all this stuff. So yeah, yeah, definitely. Disclose at your own risk as a, as a collector. Yes. So kind of next up in, in what you've been working on is, uh, you have your own podcast with a nice group of, uh, of, of gents over there called the significant watches podcast.
Podcast Launch and Collaborations
00:37:57
Speaker
When did you guys launch that last fall? Do you listen to it? Oh, absolutely. Good. Good. Every single episode. Good. It's been fun. Um, I, I co-hosted with Tony train a formerly of rescapement and now of ho dinky.
00:38:13
Speaker
Tell me he's a good guy. Yes. Very excited to see him with the dink. Very important voice there. Then Charlie Dunn, who when we started it was just a friend and now is working with me at Wind Vintage. And then Gabriel Benadore, who lives in Connecticut and is a collector.
00:38:38
Speaker
I put it together as a concept and we talked about it. I like the different hats we each wear, journalist, collector, watch dealer, someone who works in the dealer world but is a collector more so. What was the nickname they gave Charlie?
00:39:00
Speaker
What you tell me i forget she said i forget i forget what it was the i was listening to the episode the other week and i forget the name they gave him but he was he was pretty smitten about it yeah exactly exactly expert yeah yeah he liked that.
00:39:15
Speaker
as he should. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun. We get a lot of listeners. I think clearly there's a lot of people who are interested in vintage watches and the market and we're hitting an unmet need because there's not a publication that talks about all these things. Most of the watch publications are covering new watches and
00:39:43
Speaker
very surface level articles about what might be coming up at auction rather than more in-depth conversations. Yeah, that's kind of the best part, for me at least, about your guys' podcast, which I'll definitely be linking up here to make it easier for everyone to find if they haven't found it yet. But for me, you guys talk about such a wide spectrum, especially of vintage stuff that
00:40:10
Speaker
One, like you said, nobody's talking about. But two, there is like never a mention of all the hype nonsense and all that stuff, which is almost inevitable to come up in every other podcast about watches. And you guys really stick to that, which for me as a vintage watch collector and enthusiast,
00:40:33
Speaker
It's exactly what I think was missing in a watch category podcast. Hats off to you guys. It's been really enjoyable, especially for me so far. Thank you so much. It's been fun. You also have your rowing blazers and Seiko collab that you assist with. You should definitely touch on that because
00:40:58
Speaker
I don't think a lot of people know how you kind of are involved in that and they're super fun and cool and definitely something that people should keep their eye on.
00:41:11
Speaker
It's been fun, you know, to kind of build the business and be able to dabble in different things. Uh, my best man from my wedding, his name is Jack Carlson. We lived on the same floor freshman year at Georgetown. Uh, and it's been fun to see many beers ago. Yeah, not too many beers. A lot of Domino's pizza ago. But, uh, we,
00:41:39
Speaker
It's been fun to see, you know, both of our professional craft paths develop in different ways. Jack and I both ended up going to Oxford for graduate school. He was there longer. He did a doctor of philosophy and archeology degree, and I did a master of business administration degree, which was just one year. His, his program was longer, but we,
00:42:06
Speaker
We've obviously stayed in close touch over the years. And he did a book called Rowing Blazers inspired by his rowing career and seeing all the different blazers that clubs and schools would bring to the Henley Royal Regatta every year. So, you know, some of the traditions around the blazers from the different schools and interesting colors. It's kind of a,
00:42:36
Speaker
book. He did the book. We actually launched it at Ralph Lauren in New York. He launched it, I should say. I attended and we did a watch spotting article on Hodinky about the launch of the book.
00:42:47
Speaker
which I think was circa 2013 or 14. Then he decided to start a fashion company, basically, a clothing company inspired by that book. It kind of took off, didn't it? It's taken off. It's been phenomenal to watch. I've got a small piece of equity in it, which I'm happy about, and I'm on the board of advisors.
00:43:12
Speaker
Early on, I had a connection with Seiko back in 2017, and we had a meeting. Basically, Seiko said, it's very cool what you're doing, but you're still very early stage, so we don't really want to do anything yet. Then, fast forward a few years,
00:43:32
Speaker
They said, we've been watching you. We'd love to do something with our new Seiko 5 sports line. And then we did the first group of three watches that came out last June 2021 were wildly successful. And that was a lot of fun. That was sort of my first involvement in
00:43:55
Speaker
the new watch world in terms of designing and overseeing the launch of a watch and being involved. And now we've got another round coming out on the 27th of October. Then thankfully we have other launches coming up with different companies that we've been working on over the last year plus and a lot of cool stuff in the works.
00:44:19
Speaker
Are those watches launching on your site or the rowing blazer site? These are on rowing blazers. There'll be some on Hodinkey, some on Seiko, and then continuing with other companies in the future. Awesome.
00:44:37
Speaker
Roman Blazers also just opened up a store in Manhattan, is that correct? Yes. They had a store previously. Obviously, the pandemic was not great for retail in New York, so they decided to close their last store because they could only have one customer in at a time and that sort of thing.
00:44:59
Speaker
having a store is they enjoy having events to celebrate different collaborations and launches. So it didn't make sense until the world began to open up again and they got a great new flagship store on Rivington Street. We're actually having an event in honor of the SACO
00:45:22
Speaker
as well. And they've been having a lot of events for different things. They just did a Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration. So that was cool. And the events are pretty exciting and fun things to attend.
00:45:42
Speaker
That's great. Everyone get their laptops open on the 27th so they can get some watches. Exactly. I missed the last drop, so I'm definitely going to keep my eyes on this one. You'll like this watch. It's a little bit smaller than the last watch. Say no more. I think you'll like it. You're also sourcing or help sourcing watches for Mr. Porter, is that correct?
00:46:09
Speaker
Yes, that's been fun that came together this year. Certainly it's been a long time fan of Mr. Porter of Bot.
00:46:17
Speaker
some nice clothes from them over the years that I like. They have one of the best curated selections of high-end clothing in the world. Also, I really enjoy their editorial. I find myself looking at the journal weekly to see what articles they're writing. They really do every piece of their business.
00:46:43
Speaker
extremely well. They do, yeah. And I've really admired that. So I was absolutely honored when they asked if I would be interested in selling vintage watches through their site. And I just sent them another batch a few weeks ago of watches that should hopefully get up there before the holidays. So that's nice. It's not like that is
00:47:11
Speaker
keeping the lights on here necessarily, but it's a really, really great brand building for me. Certainly, I hope that their customers become familiar with wind vintage. I have serious customers who spend six figures a year in clothing. A month. Yeah, maybe a month, but certainly many that spend over six figures a year with them.
00:47:39
Speaker
Not so no, I think it's great exposure, honestly, for both both parties. I think there's a lot of people that still aren't familiar with Mr. Porter. And I think vice versa. There's a lot of people that may not be familiar with with when vintage, but it sounds like a.
00:47:55
Speaker
kind of a match made in heaven collaboration. It's been fun and really like I would say one of my core missions when I wake up every day is to try to promote vintage watches. I don't know that too many people in this space
00:48:12
Speaker
have that as a mission, but that's what I try to do always, to educate, to help people get excited about vintage watches, learn about vintage watches. And that's both because it's my passion and also because I want to have vintage watches remain relevant and important 20 years from now, 50 years from now, and 100 years from now. So if I don't take that on, you know, who will? And
00:48:41
Speaker
If you can get vintage watches in front of people who are spending serious money on fashion, then you're doing something positive for vintage watches.
00:48:52
Speaker
For sure. And again, when it comes to their website, they really do everything in such a tasteful way that you providing them with watches, you probably have a peace of mind knowing that they're going to do their part in making a listing for that watch specifically and the photography and all that, that really highlights everything about it. Exactly.
00:49:16
Speaker
It's been fun to see them pair the watches with different clothing that they have available for sale. I haven't really participated in that. They come up with that on their own, but I love the style shots. Ultimately, vintage watches are part of a lifestyle choice. It's good for people to think that they're cool and not just want to buy the brand new watches that they can see at a retailer.
00:49:43
Speaker
Right, exactly. We'll be sure to also link the page for that because it might not be as easy for people to find, so I'll make sure to get that in there for you. That's great, thank you. Before we get to the collector's gene rundown, just as a fun little highlight or note, what's one vintage watch that you are maybe close to adding to your collection right now?
00:50:13
Speaker
That's tough. One watch that I really do love. Prices have come down a bit, so if the right one came along, I would buy it. But it's so hard to find the right one. It's the Nautilus reference 3700 in steel. Blue dial, obviously.
00:50:34
Speaker
I've had one before. It's now in the collection of Daniel Dae Kim. I've obviously bought and sold a number of them. Daniel talked me out of it in a moment of weakness. It's an unpolished, perfect dial. We actually were able to get a new gasket in the crown, so it's water-resistant. Alcus Cotsopolis did that in New York.
00:50:57
Speaker
So, that's kind of nice water-resistant, vintage Nautilus from 1980. I would still be nervous to wear it in the water. Yeah, yeah. But I wouldn't recommend it in the water, but it's just nice, particularly in the Florida humidity. For sure. So, that's just an all-timer for me. I love that watch. And you wouldn't?
00:51:19
Speaker
Settle's not the right word because it's still an amazing watch, but you wouldn't go for something like a 3800. For me, that's just a little bit small. I prefer the jumbo size. I guess that's one I really love. I'm sure one will cross your path. Yeah, I've been looking for years to find one in the right condition is extremely hard. For sure.
00:51:46
Speaker
and at the right price too. Yeah, exactly. I've only seen two or three unpolished ones in my life in steel. They're almost always polished. The finishing, the edges of the case, how it looks under the light, the brushing is very different when it's polished.
00:52:10
Speaker
they kind of glow that original brushing under the light. When you turn it, you can see it just as magnificent how the light moves along the grain. And when it's just brushed, it doesn't light up at all under the light. So it's very different. Amazing watch. I hope you find one soon. And I hope that I get to see it in person when you do. Yeah, bring it out to Arizona for sure.
00:52:37
Speaker
Great. All right, Eric. Let's finish up with the collector's dream rundown. How about for you first? Oh, for me, yeah. Oh, man. I really love the reference 5066A Aquanaut in 36 millimeters. I love that size. You could still find them at good prices and
00:53:00
Speaker
you can actually call the Henry Stern Watch Agency and ask them for a couple different color straps and they will sell them to you. And it's kind of a fun watch to toss on a chocolate strap or a navy strap. But I love that you still get
00:53:16
Speaker
A lot of them have that pumpkin color patina and the 36mm case is kind of a no-brainer for me and my collection. I also really love a 3940. They're just so out of reach price-wise for me. I would love to own one, but I'd have to sell a lot of my collection to own that. Any particular metal you would want?
00:53:44
Speaker
Preferably rose or white gold. Preferably, you know, white gold over rose, but I do love rose gold too. I would never complain about amazing watches. Toss them on any color strap. They look good. I guess yellow gold too, for that matter. You know, I mean, I would never complain about owning any metal of that watch, but I also love the Nautilus 3800. I had the chance to try on a two-tone one yesterday and
00:54:14
Speaker
I wasn't sure that I would even like two-tone, but I thought the two-tone was actually kind of cool. And you also have a great one on your website, I think, with the champagne dial. That's pretty amazing. What's the one you tried on, the blue dial? The one I tried on actually had a rare white Roman numeral dial with loom plots. It was super interesting. I'll just text you a photo of it after this. I had never really seen this dial configuration. Oh, cool. Yeah, I'd love to see it.
00:54:41
Speaker
box papers, everything. Really, really, really neat watch. I really enjoyed that. I would love a Cartier Sintre. There's always Cartiers that are on my list and whatnot. Which Sintre? Honestly, it's one of those Sintres or that model that I would take any of. I would go vintage. I would prefer not to go modern. I just don't love the colorways as much of the modern ones.
00:55:08
Speaker
So vintage, small model, large model, doesn't matter to me as long as the dial's in good condition. I care about that the most. I absolutely love that watch. It just hugs your wrist no matter what your wrist size is. The list goes on. That's awesome. Never ends. That's the beauty of the hobby. I know one day you'll be rocking a crash. I can't wait for that day. A crash or a cloche? I don't know. I mean, a cloche I would absolutely love.
00:55:38
Speaker
A crash too. I think I would sell almost every Cartier I own except for one To own a crash But you need yeah, you need one one day. I'd say Cameron Ross Steiner watch I think that watch would be a great summary of everything I love about Cartier, you know, yeah and a close to I think a close kind of foots the bill on
00:56:07
Speaker
on everything I love about Cartier too, but prices have just gotten outrageous and I don't know if I would rather, you know, a Nautilus or a Cloche or something like that, but who knows? Yeah, that's good. Alrighty, let's hit it because I know it's getting late over there in Florida, so I don't want you to lose any more sleep than you already have talking to me tonight. What's the one that got away? It's hard to say one. I mean, certain watches,
00:56:38
Speaker
I mean, here's one. There's a protectfully referenced 1518 that was from 1969, which was basically almost 15 years after the last 1518s we really saw.
00:56:56
Speaker
That was a kind of one-off watch we had at Christie's with the original extract from the archives, just an insane thing that had even existed in insane condition. And the owner ended up taking it back. This was a story, I think the watch walked into Turnot and I think I wanted $15,000 for it. Unbelievable.
00:57:24
Speaker
the, thankfully, the person who worked there said, I think this watch is worth a lot more than that. You should go to Christie's and have it looked at. Wow. You don't hear about that too often. No. And then the owner decided to take it back and I think sold it elsewhere, unfortunately, and I don't know where it is now, but
00:57:47
Speaker
one of the best 1518s in the world. Most 1518s are pretty heavily restored. The dials have been, you know,
00:57:56
Speaker
sanded numerous times, sometimes re-enameled with soft enamel on top of the hard enamel, et cetera. So to find one in such amazing original condition is insane. It wasn't like it was pink on pink, but just a great yellow is impossible to find. Just that watch in general,
00:58:21
Speaker
And to see one like the one that you're describing was probably really special just in general. Yes, it's special. The pink on pink that sold for 9.5 million, I was certainly happy to be able to see that just spectacular condition as well. And I think one of the most beautiful examples of one of the most important Patek Philippe references
00:58:46
Speaker
and just the perfect shades of pink on pink too. Yes. Yeah. So, so beautiful. Yeah. It would make me into a, I'm not a big gold guy myself. My humble Wisconsin roots versus your vibrant Phoenix and Arizona upbringing. But I, I, uh,
00:59:12
Speaker
would certainly go all gold all the time to afford that watch. 100%. What's the unobtainable one that you can't have? Maybe it's in a museum or a private collection or too expensive? $24.99 in platinum.
00:59:30
Speaker
There's only two. They were both made in circa 1988 for this Patek Philippe auction. The one obviously sold in 2012 for about just under $4 million at Christie's.
00:59:47
Speaker
worth a ton more now. The other remains in the Patek Philippe collection, but I don't know that watch could be 15 to 20 million now. And it's just a special, special thing. Very special watch in any metal, but especially in that configuration for sure. Yes. Also the 1518 in steel would be one of those
01:00:16
Speaker
five known. That's like a wonder of the world. Yeah, one of those would be spectacular. Yeah, it sure would. How about the page one rewrite? So if you could collect anything besides watches, what would it be and why? I'm pretty happy with watches.
01:00:37
Speaker
Let's say money wasn't an object and you could collect anything besides watches. I mean, cars are always tempting. Obviously, a lot of people are in both cars and watches, but cars can be a pain in the butt from what I understand, obviously, a little more so than watches. I'm interested in art, of course, but
01:01:03
Speaker
I don't feel the same way about art that I do with watches. So, I don't... Just more watches. Yeah. And I think that your point with the collector gene as a concept is like, I didn't just come up to watches from out of nowhere. I started collecting sports cards when I was young, baseball, football, basketball, even golf, et cetera.
01:01:31
Speaker
And then I collected coins with my dad. He helped inspire that and we'd go to coin shows and sports card shows. And then I had inherited a collection of stamps from my grandparents, kind of international stamps that relatives had collected over the years. So, you know, it all started from those things. I don't feel as passionate about those
01:01:57
Speaker
hobbies, I think partially because they are more inanimate, if you will. They're just, you know, flat. In the case of sports cards, these flat objects, they're awesome to look at and enjoy. But for me, watches have so much more life. You can wear them, enjoy them,
01:02:17
Speaker
the history involved, the mechanics, etc. And, you know, seeing the watch operate is more gratifying than looking at a beautiful sports card from my perspective in great condition. But certainly that condition training helped train me in the field of watches really want original untouched things.
01:02:41
Speaker
You know, that's kind of the best thing about watches is that there's very few things that I could think of, if any at all, that you can collect and enjoy in all aspects of everything that you do in your everyday life, right? With art, you can collect it and appreciate it. And art is spectacular, especially when you have, you know, some one of one things and sculptures and all that sort of stuff. But all you can do with that is look at it and put it in a room.
01:03:09
Speaker
and go and admire it from time to time, but you can't bring it with you in the car, you can't bring it with you on a vacation, you can't bring it with you in the pool. So there's very few things besides watches that I could think of that could bring me at least, and I would assume you too, the same amount of joy. Yes, it's something that's very personal because it's on your person and the memories you make and it's just a very different level, I would say, of engagement with an object. Funnily enough,
01:03:39
Speaker
This is something I don't think I've talked about before, but at Christie's there is a term for if you're a VVIP and you're interested in a piece of significant art,
01:03:57
Speaker
you can actually request Christie's to bring it to your apartment and set it up. Obviously, they don't do that for just anyone, but there are two terms which I was joking around with Charlie Dunn about for those visits of the artwork. One is if it's during the day,
01:04:21
Speaker
It's called a play date. You can have, you know, in the case of a painting, you could literally have it hung on your wall, enjoy it for an hour to see what you think about it in the room, etc. But if you're really, really a big cheese, then you can have a sleepover.
01:04:41
Speaker
and they leave it at your home for the night. You literally get to keep it at your house for the night. So we joke. We had one client who wanted to take a pocket watch for sleepover. It was kind of unprecedented in the watch department because people just come in and preview it and can spend however much time they want with it, but at Christie's,
01:05:11
Speaker
in the preview room or in the office and look at the watch however many thousand times they want through a loop and everything else. But yeah, it was pretty funny. That was so funny. Funnily enough, after all that effort, the person decided they didn't want to bid on it. Unbelievable.
01:05:31
Speaker
But see, that's the thing that I don't get with something like art collecting is because if you have an eye for something like art, you should know very well
01:05:42
Speaker
whether or not it's gonna work in your home. You would think, but I guess if you're looking at spending tens of millions of dollars, you better be certain you like how it looks in the room. I guess you're entitled to a sleepover. It matches your furniture and everything else, but it's in rug color. Yeah, it's pretty funny. It's really, really, really funny. That is hilarious.
01:06:09
Speaker
Next up then, who's the goat and or goats for you in the collecting world? Cameron Ross Steiner, Jason Steiner. There are certainly a number of collectors I look up to. It doesn't have to be about total
01:06:27
Speaker
total number of watches or, you know, there's all different types of approaches for some collectors just have tons of watches. Greg's Delch is a good example of that. He's got, you know, many, many hundreds of watches. Amazing. I did. And he'll just take out tray after tray of watches.
01:06:51
Speaker
watches and it gets crazy. You can see a small selection of that on talking watches and he likes hammered watches, watches that are super beat up and that's not the
01:07:11
Speaker
norm in the world of collecting, obviously, but it's great. There are people like him who like that, and I think they look super cool. You know, his kirely Zenith that looks like it's survived multiple grenade attacks, et cetera. That once looks like it's been shot five times and somehow still working. Yes. So it's super cool to see something like that. Bill Sohn is another guy who's got
01:07:40
Speaker
apparently, literally, suitcases full of watches just banging against each other, metal on metal, driving away. So literally, unzip the suitcase and see hundreds of watches piled on top of each other.
01:07:59
Speaker
you know, a dragon guy, but I didn't know that about him. I'm going to have to, uh, I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I've heard it. It's kind of makes me think of a scene of like a dragon with, you know, all the gold, uh, piles of gold coins and just like, and then people jumping through the coins and stuff. Uh, that's him with like omega sea masters and constellations and stuff. Um, and then, uh,
01:08:30
Speaker
There are other collectors that have very refined, tight collections of a small number of exceptional pieces. I'm thinking of a few guys offhand, a gentleman named Leon who has some amazing Rolex watches. He's not on Instagram.
01:08:54
Speaker
Jeff Hess is a great collector. He recently left Philips and is on Garden Leave until he goes to Sotheby's next year after his non-compete runs out. He's got a great collection of Rolex pieces and a few other brands.
01:09:14
Speaker
and it's not he's not a volume player he's just like really wants exceptional special pieces uh and he has for sure yeah um my friend Jafari won
01:09:26
Speaker
Jeff Binstock has some amazing pieces. I like Gary Steingart's collection. I've sold him a few pieces, but he actually just loves his watches. You'll see them in his almost daily pics, eating somewhere, drinking a martini, having a nice beverage, and enjoying some crazy food.
01:09:48
Speaker
He just really has a great eye. He's got obviously beautiful gilt explorer and beautiful Patek Philippe 3445 and other really nice pieces. And he likes some modern stuff too, which is really cool. He does, yeah. He has a mix. He recently was looking at a 3940
01:10:11
Speaker
P from me, he was also interested in the G, but just after having a sleepover with one of my watchers, if you will, for a few days, decided it was just kind of too hard to read. His eyesight was deteriorating gradually and he didn't
01:10:34
Speaker
like the layout. It's not like it's very quick to read a 3940 because you've got all the information and you have to look at where the hands are pointing versus like a 3970 where it tells you the day of the week and the month.
01:10:50
Speaker
only, and you just have to look at the date and moon phase, the date register and moon phase basically. So he liked it as a concept, but then ultimately it's given up on his 3940 dreams, but that's good. There's value and clarity because he's talked about owning a 3940 for several years and just wasn't sure if he could
01:11:13
Speaker
read the information on the dial that easily and now he has the clarity that he can't. That's the funny thing about collecting when it comes to watches is that
01:11:26
Speaker
There's no better feeling than looking for something obviously and when it works out and you get the thing you love and it's just as good in your head as it is in person and owning it. But there's also that side of it when you've been dreaming about something for so long and it's expensive and you don't know if it's going to work out or not and then you see it in person and you're like,
01:11:46
Speaker
don't really want this anymore. Yeah, exactly. And you get to write it off your list. Yes. Yeah, it is funny. That's definitely part of it. I can think about that with different watches in my life. So yeah, that's the fun thing. Yep. The chase or the sale, do you enjoy the hunt more or the ownership? Thankfully, as a dealer, I can enjoy both. There are certain things I just
01:12:15
Speaker
can't I feel like I can't sell they're not super expensive but just stuff I really love like certain done hills done hills some bulking crickets you know some Rolex models etc but
01:12:30
Speaker
But most things that you make your peace with and you just try to find it a good home and hopefully you can have visitation privileges in the future. Sleepovers. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Or you can go visit and see the watch for a play date. Too good. Most important, do you feel that you're born with the collector's gene? Yes, I think so.
01:12:58
Speaker
Some people gravitate toward being collectors, and I would say that's been the case for me. I think for you, too, I would imagine. 100%. And just like you, I grew up collecting all sorts of stuff from baseball cards to action figures to Hot Wheels cars to, honestly, anything I could get my hands on that I could make a collection out of. I
01:13:25
Speaker
went ahead and I did that, but none of those things have obviously stayed like watches have and definitely will, you know? Yes. Yeah, exactly. But definitely a different category of collecting for sure. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. All right, Eric.
01:13:43
Speaker
Always such a pleasure to talk with you. We definitely don't do it often enough, but I know you're a busy guy, so I try not to bug you too much, but always so much fun chatting with you and talking about this stuff. Thank you, Cameron. Come down to Palm Beach sometime and visit. I think I actually may be there in January, so I'll keep you posted on that. Good, good. And you should come to the Miami Beach Antique Show as well sometime, which is also in January. I think it's a lot of fun.
01:14:12
Speaker
Perfect. I might be able to kind of kill two birds with one stone there. That'd be great. Thank you so much, Cameron. Thank you, Eric. Take care. All right. That does it for this episode. Thanks for listening, everybody. This has been Collectors Gene Radio signing off.