Description
In the latest installment of Robb Report’s Watch Roll, watch dealer Eric Wind discusses the stories behind four watches in his collection.
Since Wind started Wind Vintage in 2017, he hasn’t looked back.
The timepiece dealer cut his teeth at as the VP and senior specialist of watches Christie’s New York before taking a major leap to open his own business.
“It's been a great journey. Next year is our 10th anniversary,” Wind says. “You know, we try to be at the leading edge of scholarship, help educate people about what they should buy, what they should look for with vintage and modern watches. For us, it's really about helping people become collectors, get into collecting watches, vintage and modern. We're not just trying to sell a watch off the site to a random celebrity or a famous person, but we would love to see them really get nerdy and dig deep into it and think about what they're buying, and not just vacuum up everything.”
And while Wind has seen plenty of spectacular watches come and go, he has a few special treasures he keeps in his own collection. For Robb Report’s Watch Roll video series, the expert gave us a look at which timepieces he has decided to make his own.
One of those lucky numbers is the fourth collaboration between True North Watch Company and Wind Vintage, known as the Dreamsicle. The 37 mm stainless-steel model, as its name suggests, is home to a sherbet orange dial encompassing by green, complete with three subdials in purple, blue, and yellow pastel hues and a VK63 mechaquartz movement. Following behind that is a Rolex Daytona Ref. 6265, one of the first generations of the model that the Crown made and the second with screw-down pushers.
“I absolutely love Vintage Daytonas,” Wind says. “They’re very pure, very simple. You have to wind them up every day, which is very charming . . . It’s kind of an analogy for life. You get what you put in.”
The dealer also owns a Tudor Submariner Ref. 9401/0, housed in a 40 mm case and with the Caliber 2776. The watch was originally owned by a member of the U.S. Navy, and Wind bought it from the man’s niece.
“When the gentleman passed, they were going through his stuff and they found a bag of watches and she said,’ Mom, this says Rolex on the back of it,’” he says. “She did some research and realized it was something not to be thrown away. And thankfully, she contacted me and I was able to purchase it.” And the Submariner wasn’t in the best shape when Wind came across it, but he brought the timepiece back to life.
His Tudor was restored by Dr. Mina Tadros from Surgical Watch Works. For inquiries on getting a watch serviced, check out Surgical Watch Works in the link below.
https://www.surgicalwatchworks.com/
Elsewhere in his collection, the dealer owns a Universal Genève Polerouter Ref. S20217, a piece he describes as “very Mad Men-era, 1950s.” The 35 mm timepiece is made from stainless-steel and has an automatic movement. And now that Universal Genève has been revived, Wind is on the advisory board: a full-circle moment, given that his first article for Hodinkee was about the Polerouter in 2010.
To see what else Wind has in his watch collection, check out the video above.
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