Worn & Wound
My Year in Watches: It Was All About the Indies
My year in watches began in a fog of Covid that led to the purchase of a James Lamb Origin Series, an acquisition that set the tone for the rest of the year in both how my own watch collection would continue to take shape, and in how I approached my role at Worn & Wound. The theme of this year, for me, has really been brewing for the last several, but 2024 was when I really began to hone in on the importance of independent watch brands across the entire spectrum of the watch landscape, and independence in our hobby and in watch media. When I purchased the James Lamb, I made no official declarations or formal decisions about shutting out big brand purchases for the remainder of the year, but in my head the idea had been taking shape for some time. Conversations with colleagues and other watch enthusiasts had led me to the conclusion that while big luxury brands are certainly capable of making very high quality watches that are desirable and objectively “good,” they had come to feel a bit stale, almost sterile, in comparison to watches like the James Lamb, which seemed born out of a burst of creativity. It was also impossible not to notice the traditional microbrand scene growing by leaps and bounds, with many brands offering bits of real craft and flourishes of genuine watchmaking inspiration at a truly approachable price point. Why, I wondered, would anyone pay even more than I paid for my Origin Series for a watch made from the Swiss equivalent of a cookie cutter? ...
