Watch Description
What makes the Lancaster 081 unique: The Lancaster 081 is one of those watches that just works in almost any scenario. It works well with a brown strap, and would be dressed up on a black strap, and if we found a blue strap to match the hands, that'd work pretty great too! And that's all before you realize this watch houses a pocket watch movement dial and hands all originally made in 1937 by the Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. With that fact, it's a true conversation piece.
We decided to keep this one simple and use our machined stainless steel case and crown. We did not polish the steel, so if you look closely at the bezel or case, you can see the tool marks from our CNC machine cutting those pieces from solid blocks of 316 stainless. Another level of story is contained in that metal... a story of Made in USA.
This 17jewel movement was manufactured in 1937 which is the same year that General Motors built the first mass-produced automatic transmission engine. The "Hydra-Matic" would debut in 1940 model cars, but imagine wearing this pocket watch built in Pennsylvania driving down the streets of Detroit in one of the first prototypes of an automatic car. Pretty spectacular, and pretty darn American.
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.
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: 2025
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 43mm
- Thickness: 10mm
- Lug to Lug: 50mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: Machined Stainless Steel
- Crown/Hardware: Stainless Steel
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Hamilton Watch Company
- Serial Number: H34367
- Manufacture Year: 1937
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 10s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
What makes the Lancaster 081 unique: The Lancaster 081 is one of those watches that just works in almost any scenario. It works well with a brown strap, and would be dressed up on a black strap, and if we found a blue strap to match the hands, that'd work pretty great too! And that's all before you realize this watch houses a pocket watch movement dial and hands all originally made in 1937 by the Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. With that fact, it's a true conversation piece.
We decided to keep this one simple and use our machined stainless steel case and crown. We did not polish the steel, so if you look closely at the bezel or case, you can see the tool marks from our CNC machine cutting those pieces from solid blocks of 316 stainless. Another level of story is contained in that metal... a story of Made in USA.
This 17jewel movement was manufactured in 1937 which is the same year that General Motors built the first mass-produced automatic transmission engine. The "Hydra-Matic" would debut in 1940 model cars, but imagine wearing this pocket watch built in Pennsylvania driving down the streets of Detroit in one of the first prototypes of an automatic car. Pretty spectacular, and pretty darn American.
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.
