Watch Description
What makes the Lancaster 179 unique: Today, we’re delighted to showcase this luxurious watch that was originally built by the Hamilton Watch Company in 1930 — the Lancaster 179. The front of this breathtaking piece boasts a soft-gold-colored dial with patinated gold numerals and a glimmering subdial. The dial also features even more opulent details with its rich, violet-colored diamond kite watch hands. We complemented the pocket watch’s sumptuous style by encasing it within our beautiful and robust Gilded Titanium case and equipped it with a gold-plated crown. In addition to high-quality protection and style, our Gilded Titanium case also features a transparent back, allowing you to view the pocket watch’s antique 912-grade open-face movement with gold-plated gears and 17 remarkable screw-set jewels. The piece also boasts a ¾ plate, Reed regulator, nickel finish, and pendant setting. To top the piece off, we paired it with our hand-crafted Cordovan Oxblood leather watch strap, making this one-of-a-kind piece of American-made luxury comfortably wearable.The Hamilton Watch Company initially released the pocket watch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1930 — the same year that Colonel Harland Sanders opened the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Colonel Sanders originally named his restaurant Sanders Court & Café, and he first sold his food out of a Shell filling station that he purchased in North Corbin, Kentucky. 22 years later, Colonel Sanders began franchising, and he first franchised the recipe to Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah. Harman hired a sign painter named Don Anderson for his Sanders Court & Café location, and Anderson came up with the name “Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Today, KFC is the second largest restaurant chain in the world after Mcdonald's and has 22,621 locations across the globe.
Movement Manufacturer Information
The movement inside of this watch was made by Hamilton Watch Company. We call this model "The Lancaster" because the company was located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Hamilton is named after famous Pennsylvanian Alexander Hamilton and is the result of multiple re-organizations of attempted watch companies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1892, Hamilton had a reputation for superior quality and maintained half of the railroad watch market share during some of the most prolific years of American railroad history. During World War II, Hamilton was integral to the production of accurate timepieces for the Military. Deemed "the watch that won the war," the company established an employee-run newsletter so that employees turned soldiers could keep up with life at the factory. While the original factory still stands as luxury apartments, the company stopped producing watches in the US in 1969. Hamilton now produces watches in Switzerland and is owned by the Swatch Group.
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Watch Specifications
- Manufacturer: Vortic Watch Company
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 47mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 55mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: Machined Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Gold Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Hamilton Watch Company
- Serial Number: 3323499
- Manufacture Year: 1930
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Hamilton Watch Company initially released the pocket watch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1930 — the same year that Colonel Harland Sanders opened the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Colonel Sanders originally named his restaurant Sanders Court & Café, and he first sold his food out of a Shell filling station that he purchased in North Corbin, Kentucky. 22 years later, Colonel Sanders began franchising, and he first franchised the recipe to Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah. Harman hired a sign painter named Don Anderson for his Sanders Court & Café location, and Anderson came up with the name “Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Today, KFC is the second largest restaurant chain in the world after Mcdonald's and has 22,621 locations across the globe.
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The Movement
The engine that powers this watch is an antique American pocket watch movement. All the gears and springs that make it tell time are roughly 100 years old on average. We call these watches the American Artisan Series because we're celebrating the history and legacy of the artisan watchmakers who built this engineering marvel a century ago in the United States.
The Story
Today most pocket watches are scrapped for the gold or silver of the case (the outside of the antique timepiece), leaving the inside (what we call the "movement") as trash.
We take pride in upcycling these pieces of American history by salvaging as many as we can, then preserving them inside our wristwatches.
Our expert team of watchmakers restores the antique movement and then we manufacture a custom wristwatch case here in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The Strap
We partnered with Worn & Wound to produce a custom set of straps for our American Artisan Series watches. We now have 15 different colors to choose from including our two Horween Shell Cordovan options. These straps are made in the USA and are based on the Windup Model 2 Premium strap that Worn and Wound offers.
