Vortic Watch: The Springfield 187

Vortic Watch Company's mission is to salvage, restore, and preserve an important part of United States history. Today, beautiful antique pocket watch mechanisms are often cast aside when their original case is scrapped for precious metal value. American pocket watches were made with an incredible level of quality. So, after 100 years, many simply need a little patience from a skilled individual to make them run like new. Vortic fully restores these mechanisms and builds them into wristwatches to make them functional again and to preserve them for another 100+ years.

Watch - "The Springfield” 175 is a one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Springfield" line of the American Artisan Series. This watch features a water-resistant, titanium 3D printed case with a blackened "Diamond Like Carbon" finish and a round gold crown.  The mechanics of the restored movement are visible through the Gorilla Glass crystal of the exhibition style, stainless steel back.

Case - Machined titanium cases have been CNC milled from a solid block of aerospace grade titanium. Titanium is the ultimate material for strength to weight ratio. A DLC or "Diamond Like Carbon" coating is then applied to the case to create a uniquely black finish. While in the family of PVD coatings, DLC provides a small amount of transparency that allows us to see machine marks and surface detail while still appearing black. This coating is extremely durable and represents the best that Vortic has to offer.  

Movement Info - This "175" grade movement was originally produced by the Illinois Watch Company in 1914. This manually wound movement is beautifully decorated, and has a fully jeweled gear train (21 jewels).

This watch's movement is from the Illinois Watch Company. Originally called the Springfield Watch Company, Illinois came to Springfield, Illinois in 1869 while the "modern" watch industry was fairly new but highly promising. City officials felt that the addition of industry to the city of Springfield would be excellent for the city's growth. However, after a series of failures and re-brandings, the company had a slow start until 1903 when they decided to manufacture high-quality watches only. Eventually making some of the most beautiful watches of their time, the company sold to Hamilton in 1927. Hamilton continued producing watches under the Illinois name for some time, but the original Springfield factory no longer stands.




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