Watch Description
What makes the Chicago 476 unique: Today, we’re thrilled to present this fashionable piece initially produced by the Elgin National Watch Company in 1926 — the Chicago 476. The watch sports an antique, white dial with vivid light-blue hour and minute hands, and the piece also features black, stylized numerals with 45-degree angle text-shadow outlines. We encased the pocket watch in our incredibly robust and bold Diamond Like Coating (DLC) case and paired it with a copper crown, making the piece even more stunning. The DLC case features a clear back, enabling you to view the watch’s intricate inner workings. The back of the watch features a 345-grade open-face movement with a ruby expansion balance wheel, Moseley regulator, and Breguet hairspring. Additionally, it boasts gold-plated gears powered by 17 ruby and sapphire jewels. To tie the piece together, we equipped the watch with our Cordovan Black leather watch strap, which pairs perfectly with our DLC case and the dial’s classic style. The Elgin National Watch company originally manufactured this piece in Elgin, Illinois, in 1926 — the same year that the groundbreaking American author Earnest Hemingway published his novel The Sun Also Rises. Although the work received mixed reviews at the time of its release, many Hemingway scholars and enthusiasts — including Hemingway biographer Jeffrey Meyers — consider it Hemingway’s best and most important novel.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
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 47mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 55mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: DLC Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Copper
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Elgin Watch Company
- Serial Number: 29009177
- Manufacture Year: 1926
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
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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.
