Watch Description
The Lancaster 085 is the 85th one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Lancaster" 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 Lancaster 085 Unique: Today’s Watch of the Day is the Lancaster 085, as we continue to showcase our fantastic DLC black cases with so many of these unique dials. The smokey patina on this dial paired with an ornate design in the double-sunk dial gives this watch incredible character. The gothic style cobalt blue hands stand out beautifully and pair well with the moss strap and nickel crown. On the back, we see more blued steel elements in the hardware, as well as a very distinct vertical pattern, machined into the build plate. 17 screw set jewels and gold plated gears and balance round off the classy look of this amazing Hamilton Watch. On this date, April 20th, 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the element Radium in their lab in Paris. At the time Radium was looked at as the miracle cure for a handful of ailments and was thought to help cure cancer. The element had a glowing effect in the dark, and for this reason, was used by the United States Radium Corporation to paint watch dials. The painting on the watch dials helped the hands and numerals glow so that you could read the watch at night. Each dial was hand-painted by female workers, and later proved to actually be quite harmful rather than helpful, and caused considerable health issues and death for many workers. Even to this day, we still find old watches with traces of Radium leftover from this interesting time in our country’s history and have to take extra precautions when we do find them.
1935
3414774
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: 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: Nickel Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Hamilton Watch Company
- Serial Number:
- Manufacture Year:
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Lancaster 085 is the 85th one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Lancaster" 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 Lancaster 085 Unique: Today’s Watch of the Day is the Lancaster 085, as we continue to showcase our fantastic DLC black cases with so many of these unique dials. The smokey patina on this dial paired with an ornate design in the double-sunk dial gives this watch incredible character. The gothic style cobalt blue hands stand out beautifully and pair well with the moss strap and nickel crown. On the back, we see more blued steel elements in the hardware, as well as a very distinct vertical pattern, machined into the build plate. 17 screw set jewels and gold plated gears and balance round off the classy look of this amazing Hamilton Watch. On this date, April 20th, 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the element Radium in their lab in Paris. At the time Radium was looked at as the miracle cure for a handful of ailments and was thought to help cure cancer. The element had a glowing effect in the dark, and for this reason, was used by the United States Radium Corporation to paint watch dials. The painting on the watch dials helped the hands and numerals glow so that you could read the watch at night. Each dial was hand-painted by female workers, and later proved to actually be quite harmful rather than helpful, and caused considerable health issues and death for many workers. Even to this day, we still find old watches with traces of Radium leftover from this interesting time in our country’s history and have to take extra precautions when we do find them.
1935
3414774
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.
