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What is the Wheatstone Golden Age or Golden Era all about? I was told this was 30xxx to 32xxx (1924 to 1933), others say 1900 to 1930. Some strongly object to this narrow of range and others insist it is exclusively only 31xxx instruments. I know every concertina is an individual and so it depends strongly on current condition, the reed tuning (re-tuning) condition / skill, the voicing, whether it is played in, air tightness, bellows condition, etc. etc. and I certainly agree that an older less popular instrument can be much superior to a rarer more expensive one. There is collector's antique value vs. players instrument value. Tone quality and even volume, dynamics and responsiveness can all be subjective. It seems the musical quality of an instrument is hard to define but most agree that you can instantly tell when it's there. You just know it! The instrument speaks out and is expressive. You connect with it. So is the Wheatstone Golden Age about reed pan design, action design, materials, quality of workmanship, etc. etc. or is this a collector's thing? All things being equal... What makes these instruments superior? This is probably not an objective thing (or is it?), but more of an opinion thing. I see this phrase a lot so have to ask... What is the Wheatstone Golden Age and when was it?