It seems almost impossible, but ten years ago, when Worn & Wound was just getting off the ground, entering the watch world through vintage watches was relatively common, easy, and even recommended by many. The fact that this idea seems laughable now, as vintage has reached peak minefield status and the boom has just kept booming, tells us all we need to know about how much has changed in vintage watches over the last decade. This is partly because of the great expansion and democratization of the industry – there are simply more good options for new watches at entry level prices (whatever that means to you) than we ever could have imagined ten years ago. But it?s also fundamentally due to the vintage market itself, which has transformed multiple times over in a relatively short time frame. As Worn & Wound celebrates our ten year anniversary, we?re in a reflective mood, and can?t help but examine how the industry and hobby have changed since we first came online. Vintage watches are a huge part of not only Worn & Wound?s history, but played a key role in how many on staff came to watches in the first place. I recently spoke with Eric Wind, who runs Wind Vintage, has appeared on the Worn & Wound podcast, and recently provided an assist to Seiko and Rowing Blazers on one of the year?s most well received collaborations, about how the way we approach vintage watches has evolved over the last ten years.  

According to Wind, the vintage watch mar...