Investing in Our Future
Hey! R.T. Custer here - the co-founder and CEO of Vortic Watch Company. Thank you so much for following our journey! There are over 30,000 of you on our email list now and it's growing by 500 per week.
Since we launched on Kickstarter, now almost six years ago, we've basically been sold out. We've had, and are having, all those "good problems" you want in business. The demand for our products exponentially outweighs the supply.
Recently though, we've been busier than ever. If you feel like it's taken us longer than usual to return your email or call, the graph below helps us figure out what was happening.
The word is out. And we're trying our absolute best to keep up!
We now have two to three times our "normal" website traffic. And... it's not even the holiday season yet!
Due to this and to protect our sanity, we're going to make some temporary changes here at the workshop.
First, we're changing Watch of the Day to Watch of the Week. We simply cannot keep up with all the custom orders we're receiving. Since most of those orders are Convert Your Watch orders, we should really prioritize the customers who send us their priceless family heirlooms.
Second, we're putting a priority on both the Military Edition and custom orders. Our goal is to be completely caught up by February. If we kept making Pre-Built watches every day, we'd be back-ordered for at least six months, so this is absolutely necessary.
Finally, WE NEED HELP! Our biggest roadblock is watchmakers to restore the antique movements. If you are a watchmaker or know one, please respond to this message and let's chat. We need to hire several more watchmakers and will hire for more positions very soon. I expect our team to at least double in the next 12 months.
For now, you can still purchase a watch from our very limited inventory here, or you can request a custom project on our Gallery page. As always, if you have a family heirloom, please use our Convert Your Watch page to submit a project.
And don't forget to sign up for the Military Edition Waiting List! We are building 65 of those watches this year, and they will likely go quickly.
THANK YOU so much for your patience, your business, and your time. We can't do this without you.
- R.T. and the Vortic team
Your Last Weekly Roundup of 2020
Soon we'll bring back Watch of the Day, but for now, we'll just send a weekly email with at least one available watch, and that'll be the Watch of the Week! Click the images to see that watch on the website, and to learn more.
As always, everything inside these watches is from an antique American pocket watch including the dial (face), hands, and movement (the entire mechanical mechanism). Feel free to respond to this email with questions or to request a custom project!
The Springfield 226
The classic white and gold combo is one of our forever favorites, simple but stunning! The gold numerals on this dial are bolder than we often see and pair lovely with the gold gothic hands. The decor around the center of the dial almost looks like a braided pattern but is subtle as it is not accented with gold. We appreciate how our machined titanium case adds to the smoothness of the watch while the gold round crown and rye strap pull out the gold. The very center of the dial even has a brushed look to it though again, it is very subtle. Manufactured in 1927, this movement was produced by the Illinois Watch Company and has 19jewels, featuring the pin stripe pattern we see on many Illinois movements. For some context, in 1927, not everybody had electricity so hand cranked washing machines were still sold - can you imagine hand cranking your washer to clean your clothes?
The Springfield 363 (Sold)
Continuing in our Fall vein, we have this speckled dial featuring bold, angled, numerals and three matching cathedral style hands! We talked about the texture and color of this dial in the shop and we wonder if the dials was exposed to something creating the green-ish hue as it patina'd though the speckle is pretty evenly distributed. We did agree that this is the only dial we have seen with this element. We chose our DLC black case with a round raw to keep the slightly spooky feel and our Olive strap not only brings out the green tones in the dial but also gives a sort of military feel to the watch. This is an Illinois Watch Company movement produced in 1925 with 17jewels. We found out Richard Sears issued the first catalog for his watches and jewelry in 1889 but 1925 was the year Sears opened their first store in Chicago!
The Chicago 402 (Sold)
This watch is quite the eye-catcher! The dial is overall in stunning shape with an engraved golden center that still shines. The classic blue steel hands create a perfect contrast to the gold center. The numerals are also in beautiful condition and add just a touch of whimsy to the overall feel of the watch. If you look closely at the background of the face you can see a brushed look to the metal of the dial. We decided on our DLC black case and knurled gold crown to accent the gold in the center. This movement was produced in 1925 by the Elgin Watch Company with 17jewels. 1925 was also the year "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published and this watch has a bit of that gold Gatsby flair!
