The Story Continued
We've had the pleasure to share more of the lawsuit story and the future of Vortic on the interviews below!
Love N' Watches Interview
R.T. chats with Ranch Racer and Perpetual Girl about the inception of Vortic, the journey through the lawsuit and where Vortic is headed! R.T. joins the conversation around minute mark 19:20.
Bullpen Sessions with Andy Neary
In this episode, RT shares about his childhood growing up in an entrepreneurial family and how that led him to founding Vortic with Tyler! He also touches on the Military Edition and our excitement for our second edition and supporting the Veteran's Watchmaker Initiative.
The Relentless Growth Podcast
"The path of a young entrepreneur is one fraught with challenges and the unknown, and RT Custer is a shining example of someone who has journeyed fearlessly and hopefully, coming up against almost unimaginable odds on the way."
The Weekly Roundup
We build a new, one of a kind wristwatch every single day. We call it the Watch of the Day! Here's the last seven watches in your weekly round up. 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 Chicago 401
Everything that glitters is the Chicago 401! A machined titanium case enhances the sparkle in the ornate floral silver filigree dial design. The floral motif continues on the back of the movement, with flowers engraved on the plate above the balance wheel. This intricately elegant Elgin movement was produced in 1908, which is the same year the Chicago Cub won their second back to back World Series Win.
The Lancaster 076
The Lancaster 076 is one of our more unique creations. This movement features dark purple metallic hands, instead of the more common blue steel. The sparkly stone texture of the dial face and Roman numerals make this watch reminiscent of ancient sundials. All characteristics join together for an aesthetic that is simultaneously classic and modern. The Hamilton movement was manufactured in 1925, which is the same year the Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Percy Chrysler.
The Boston 378
People often want to know if we restore the dials we use for our watches but we think there is a story in the fade, patina and scratches on dials! Each of these dials are a part of history and we do our best to preserve them as is. This dial not only has some fade to the numerals, providing a texture created over time but subtle two-tone element as well. You can see two alternating triangles of white and off-white matching the same angle of the hands placed at "10" and "2". We knew we wanted to accent the textured dial with a smooth DLC black case and a knurled nickel crown but the strap was a harder choice. If you change the color of the strap you get a different feeling watch but we picked the cool toned Stone strap. If you make this watch yours, we suggest an additional strap in another color to switch it up! This 17jewel movement was produced by the Waltham Watch Company in 1924. It wasn't until 1924 that the U.S. Army completed the first round-the-world flight!
The Springfield 353
Anyone from Santa Fe? This movement was originally manufactured for the Santa Fe Railroad by Illinois Watch Co in 1929. Everything about this is rare and special. The dial is double signed, meaning it says both Illinois and Santa Fe. It’s also a Montgomery dial, which is an extremely rare feature on a 12size movement. The 21jewel movement is immaculately decorated, rounding out this collectors dream watch. This dial has "kite hands" with the diamonds on the end and boasts a beautifully kept Montgomery dial. The machined titanium case allows the dial to be the focus while we used the round gold crown and Cordovan black strap to match the class of this watch. The year this movement was produced was the Wall Street Crash - the bubble bursted on October 24th, known as Black Thursday, and stock prices fell sharply with a reported loss of $5 billion on that day.
The Springfield 351
This dial embodies the phrase, "simple is beautiful" with it's pristine white background, newspaper bold numerals and a subtle gold accent in the hands and the circle on the inside of the dial. Very unique, the luminous hands might be the only "ornate" aspect of this watch overall. Our DLC black case made for a great pair to accent the numeral style and we matched the gold themes with our round gold crown and rye strap. The movement in this watch is an Autocrat movement (one of our team's favorites) and was produced in 1919 by the Illinois Watch Company. For some context, 1919 was the year the Rotary Dial telephone was invented - 101 years ago!
The Springfield 354
This dial must have a story to tell! The movement was produced in 1922, 98 years ago, and since then this dial and movement combo has likely been through several hands. You can see the distressed look, a texture that could only be achieved over time. In the center is a prominent gold design that resembles a coin. The gold appears to have been added later to the dial because of the nature of the cut-out look around the Illinois signature. We chose a knurled gold crown as a nod to the coin like center and allowed the black DLC case and coal strap to serve as a backdrop for this Conversation Piece dial. We found out the year this movement was produced is the same year as the Denver Mint Robbery. With the wear and tear and coin like addition to this dial, would it be a stretch to wonder if this pocket watch played a role in the successful robbery of $200,000 from the Denver Mint? We can only imagine what these pocket watches have experienced before they end up in our hands, sometimes our imaginations get the best of us.
The Boston 376
The Boston 376 is a bold and confident masterpiece, featuring clean and sporty minimalism. A textured knurled nickel crown offsets the cool concrete look of the dial, while the Stone suede straps and DLC coated case create impeccably smooth lines. The Waltham Royal movement in this watch was manufactured in 1919; however, the movement name "Royal" was NOT related to Royal E. Robbins, the man who purchased the Waltham Watch Company when it went bankrupt in 1957.
