Watch Description
The Cleveland Railroad 016 is the 51st one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Cleveland Railroad" 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 Cleveland Railroad 016 Unique: Today's Watch of the Day is our one pocket watch for the month... the Cleveland Railroad 016. They say the dial makes a watch. And now we know why. This pocket watch has the rarest, most beautiful dial we've ever seen. The Ball Watch Company in Cleveland, Ohio was known for purchasing movements from the great manufacturing companies like Hamilton, Waltham, or Illinois and then improving those already fantastic mechanisms before crafting special dials for each piece. This dial though is a masterpiece. We tried to capture it in our photography studio, but pictures just can't do this justice. We believe it was made in a similar fashion to ceramic as it looks like high end tile you might see in an antique hotel. The gold numerals were applied to the dial and stick out from the face, giving another layer of depth to an already complex surface. If you look closely, there are small gold dots as minute markers all the way around the outside. Finally, the second hand sub-dial has a mirror polish and was likely cut and polished out of the original solid design. The railroad grade movement was originally manufactured by the Hamilton Watch Company for Ball in 1947 and we believe this dial was manufactured in that same timeframe, most likely by an individual craftsman as a one-off piece.
1947
1B7827
https://player.vimeo.com/video/453701310
Movement Manufacturer Information
The movement inside of this watch was made by Ball Watch Company. We call this model "The Cleveland" because the company was located within the Cleveland city limits.
Founded by Webb C. Ball in 1891, Ball Watch Company's watches focused on the railroad industry and had a reputation for quality that was second to none. Mr. Ball famously invented and implemented a standard set of watch inspections and requirements to qualify a watch for use on the railroad at a time when timekeeping was paramount to safety. This was known as a "Standard" or "Railroad Grade" watch. The core of the manufacturing for these watches was performed by Hamilton and Waltham Watch Companies, but the adjustment, finishing, and testing performed by Ball set them ahead of the pack. One of the few companies still in existence, Ball now makes watches in Switzerland and is owned by Hong Kong group Asia Commercial Holdings Ltd.
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: 2020
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Diameter: 51mm
- Case Material: Machined Bronze
- Crown/Hardware: Bronze
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Ball Watch Company
- Serial Number:
- Manufacture Year:
- Function: Manual Wind, Lever-Set
- Jewels: 21 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: Railroad
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Cleveland Railroad 016 is the 51st one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Cleveland Railroad" 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 Cleveland Railroad 016 Unique: Today's Watch of the Day is our one pocket watch for the month... the Cleveland Railroad 016. They say the dial makes a watch. And now we know why. This pocket watch has the rarest, most beautiful dial we've ever seen. The Ball Watch Company in Cleveland, Ohio was known for purchasing movements from the great manufacturing companies like Hamilton, Waltham, or Illinois and then improving those already fantastic mechanisms before crafting special dials for each piece. This dial though is a masterpiece. We tried to capture it in our photography studio, but pictures just can't do this justice. We believe it was made in a similar fashion to ceramic as it looks like high end tile you might see in an antique hotel. The gold numerals were applied to the dial and stick out from the face, giving another layer of depth to an already complex surface. If you look closely, there are small gold dots as minute markers all the way around the outside. Finally, the second hand sub-dial has a mirror polish and was likely cut and polished out of the original solid design. The railroad grade movement was originally manufactured by the Hamilton Watch Company for Ball in 1947 and we believe this dial was manufactured in that same timeframe, most likely by an individual craftsman as a one-off piece.
1947
1B7827
https://player.vimeo.com/video/453701310
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.
