Watch Description
The Chicago 433 is the 433rd one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Chicago" line of the American Artisan Series. This watch contains the original movement (timepiece), dial (face), and hands from a vintage (1880’s – 1950’s) pocket watch. The American Artisan Series is a line of fully American Made wristwatches powered by restored, U.S. made pocket watch movements.
What makes the Chicago 433 Unique: To finish off our week of unique Hunting Style watches, we bring you another wonderful example from the Elgin National Watch Company. This piece is another special conversion style dial, taking a Hunting Style watch and rotating the movement 90 degrees with this new dial, to move the second indicator to the 3 o'clock position and the crown up to the 12 o'clock position. We love the soft look of this dial, with the very subtle second indicator that at first glance barely even looks out of place. We matched these amazingly unique gold Arabic numerals with our gold-plated crown and hardware throughout. A marsh green strap and black DLC titanium case give contrast to the dial and helps to pronounce some of the character of this watch. The movement inside this watch is decorated beautifully all across the main build plate, in a very uniquely Elgin manner. Stainless steel hardware accents the flair of these circular patterned winding wheels, while gold-plated gears and a brass balance wheel peek out from below. 17 screw-set jewels and a Breguet hairspring help to power this fantastic watch, originally manufactured in Elgin, Illinois in 1923. This is also the same year that Roy and Walt Disney founded the Walt Disney Company.
1923
25632126
Movement Manufacturer Information
The movement inside of this watch was made by Elgin Watch Company. We call this model "The Chicago" because of the company's proximity to the city.
Also known as Elgin National Watch Company, Elgin wasn't only the largest watch manufacturer in the United States, but the largest watch manufacturer in the world for almost 100 years, operating from 1864-1964. The company often used a depiction of father time on advertisements. At one point, the company was making 7,500 watch movements per week and had 2,300 employees. The factory was demolished in 1966 and replaced with a shopping center.
Legal Disclaimer: All product and company names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to within Vortic's products and services are the property of their respective intellectual property rights holders, if any. Those intellectual property rights holders, other than Vortic, LLC, are not affiliated with Vortic, LLC, our products, or our website. They do not sponsor or endorse our materials.
Watch Specifications
- Manufacturer: Vortic Watch Company
- Model Year: 2021
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 47mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 55mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: DLC Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Gold Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Elgin Watch Company
- Serial Number:
- Manufacture Year:
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Chicago 433 is the 433rd one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Chicago" line of the American Artisan Series. This watch contains the original movement (timepiece), dial (face), and hands from a vintage (1880’s – 1950’s) pocket watch. The American Artisan Series is a line of fully American Made wristwatches powered by restored, U.S. made pocket watch movements.
What makes the Chicago 433 Unique: To finish off our week of unique Hunting Style watches, we bring you another wonderful example from the Elgin National Watch Company. This piece is another special conversion style dial, taking a Hunting Style watch and rotating the movement 90 degrees with this new dial, to move the second indicator to the 3 o'clock position and the crown up to the 12 o'clock position. We love the soft look of this dial, with the very subtle second indicator that at first glance barely even looks out of place. We matched these amazingly unique gold Arabic numerals with our gold-plated crown and hardware throughout. A marsh green strap and black DLC titanium case give contrast to the dial and helps to pronounce some of the character of this watch. The movement inside this watch is decorated beautifully all across the main build plate, in a very uniquely Elgin manner. Stainless steel hardware accents the flair of these circular patterned winding wheels, while gold-plated gears and a brass balance wheel peek out from below. 17 screw-set jewels and a Breguet hairspring help to power this fantastic watch, originally manufactured in Elgin, Illinois in 1923. This is also the same year that Roy and Walt Disney founded the Walt Disney Company.
1923
25632126
Let customers speak for us
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.
