The Material Review
Issue 204: Tom Carvel, A Dumb House, A Texas Menswear Shop, Cold Plunges, Art But Make It Sports, Birkenstock Boston, Medical Gloves, A New Boot Collab and Q&A w/ Eric Wind.
Stories worth reading. Stop indexing the internet.
The Sweet Life of Tom Carvel
“How a Greek immigrant with big dreams grew a faulty ice-cream cart into an American franchise behemoth that would serve Flying Saucers and Fudgie the Whales to many generations to come” [Air Mail]
In Praise of a Dumb House
“Tech has been encroaching on the family domicile for years—but actor, writer, and satirist Jill Kargman is all in on analog.” [Wired]
One of the World’s Best Menswear Stores Is In... Texas?
I Survived a Cold Plunge and All I Got Was Everything I Ever Wanted
“I resisted the trend until I couldn’t any longer.” [NYT]
Finding the art in the beautiful game
“Rader is the person behind the wildly popular Art But Make It Sports social media accounts, where he uses photographs and screengrabs of pivotal or dynamic moments in sports and juxtaposes them against canonical paintings or statues.” [CNN]
How the Birkenstock Boston Became an Unlikely Icon
“The game-changing clog turns 50 this year. This is its story.” [Esquire]
Almost $1 Billion Later, the US Still Can’t Make a Medical Glove
“The failure of a program to produce 100% American nitrile gloves shows the difficulty of reviving US manufacturing” [Bloomberg*]
A shortlist of things we’ve got our eye on.
Manresa Roebuck Shirt
Object From Nothing 10 STRAND SPLICED & WOVEN BELT
Balmuda x Jony Ive Sailing Lantern
Norda 055 Trail Running Shoe
Noah Angus
R.M.Williams x Campbell’s of Beauly
Highlander Boot
Eric Wind
Eric Wind is the founder of Wind Vintage and one of the most respected names in vintage watches. Fresh off the release of his fifth collaboration with Seiko and Rowing Blazers, we spoke with Eric about what the auction world taught him about collectors, how the internet reshaped vintage watch collecting, the references he still thinks are undervalued, and why Patek Philippe pocket watches can be surprisingly difficult to sell.
You spent years at Christie’s before starting your own business. What’s something about buying and selling vintage watches that you only understood after seeing the auction world from the inside?
It is amazing how many people, even spending seven and even eight figures on a watch, don’t really understand the details about them. Many dealers and auction houses try to jam watches down the throats of their clients until they get sick and stop buying, but I prefer to educate them and ultimately it makes a lifetime collector. Too many big collectors burn out quickly due to being burned or not really understanding the watches they were purchasing.
The Rowing Blazers x Seiko collaboration felt more considered than the average logo-on-a-dial partnership. What made that project worth saying yes to?
It’s been a wonderful five years working with Seiko. We didn’t know what to expect when we did our first launch back in summer 2021, but I know a lot more about designing great watches and it has been a joy to see the collaboration develop and thrive.
When you wrote Vintage Watches: The Modern Guide, what was the biggest misconception about collecting that you wanted to correct?
We are so excited the book is launching on November 17! We encourage people to pre-order it now to ensure they have a copy and show support. My colleague Charlie Dunne have written the book as a love letter to vintage watches and collecting. We were thrilled to work with James Fisk who took all the amazing photographs of so many beautiful vintage watches. Our goal was to make a book compelling enough that owners will want to open it more than one time. Both Charlie and I have spent $100+ on some watch books that we flipped through for 10 minutes and then never had any interest in cracking the cover again.
What has the internet actually done to vintage watch collecting?
I think it has been great in terms of expanding the knowledge of watches, particularly in terms of what is correct and original condition. I certainly would not be in the world of watches except for stumbling on HODINKEE in its earliest days back in 2008 when I was still in college at Georgetown. Social media, such as Instagram, has taken watch collecting to a lot more people and made more people interested in vintage watches. It has been a joy to see so many millions of people begin to appreciate and even love vintage watches!
You see a lot of collections. Is there a tell that someone has genuinely developed taste, as opposed to simply buying expensive watches?
I think it is often reflected in the owner not just showing off six- and seven-figure watches, but showing some great less expensive watches that he or she has collected and loves. If someone only shows you a collection of “bangers” that are all insane watches, then it might be that the collector is more interested in values than the actual watches themselves and what makes them cool.
What’s one vintage watch that still feels underappreciated, and what do collectors tend to overlook about it?
I think vintage Heuer watches really offer an incredible array of excellent watches and they are often under $10,000. We have seen growing interest in them, which is gratifying. Of course, Charlie Dunne and I also love vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre watches and also vintage Vulcain Cricket alarm watches.
What’s the last watch that came across your desk that made you stop for a minute before handing it back? What was special about it?
I love great Patek Philippe pocket watches. The craftsmanship and quality is next level, and they are often preserved in spectacular condition. Collectors don’t seem to appreciate how awesome they are as they are not that easy to sell, even when priced under $10,000.
Thank you for the nice interview!