Watch Description
What makes the Lancaster 114 unique:
The Lancaster 114 is all about character. Its cream dial carries a vertical pinstripe texture that catches the light like brushed silk, with areas of warm, smoky patina that remind you this piece has already lived a long life. Applied gold-tone Arabic numerals—tall, slightly dramatic, and gothic in feel—rise out of that texture and are framed by a ring of circular minute markers around the edge of the dial. At center, we kept the original gold gothic-style open kite hands, which add a touch of elegance and make the time easy to read at a glance. Down at 6 o’clock, an unusual fan-shaped “Secometer” replaces the traditional sub-seconds dial, with a decorative flourish above the scale that gives this watch a distinctly Art Deco personality.
Inside, this watch is powered by a 19-jewel Hamilton movement manufactured in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1934. Hamilton built these movements for accuracy and durability, and you can see that intent through the open caseback. Broad bridges are decorated with crisp pinstripe Geneva stripes that echo the dial’s vertical texture, while polished screws and bright gold-plated gears provide plenty of visual depth. It’s a beautifully preserved example of American watchmaking in the interwar years, brought back to life to be worn every day instead of stored in a drawer.
We machined a stainless-steel case specifically for this movement and paired it with a smooth stonewashed titanium bezel that softens the light and frames the dial’s aged cream tones. An oversized knurled stonewashed-steel crown at 12 o’clock nods to the pocket-watch origins of the movement and makes winding satisfying and tactile. To finish the build, we chose a black American-made leather strap with bold contrast stitching, which grounds the watch visually and balances the warmth of the dial and numerals with a clean, modern presence on the wrist.
When this Hamilton movement left the factory in 1934, American railroads were racing to modernize. That same year, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad introduced the stainless-steel Pioneer Zephyr streamliner, a diesel-powered train that made a highly publicized run from Denver to Chicago in just over 13 hours and set new expectations for speed and efficiency in passenger travel. By preserving and converting this 1934 movement today, we’re carrying forward a small piece of the same era of innovation that reshaped how Americans moved across the country.
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.
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Watch Specifications
- Manufacturer: Vortic Watch Company
- Model Year: 2025
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 45mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 50mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: Machined Steel
- Crown/Hardware: Stainless Steel
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Hamilton Watch Company
- Serial Number: 3147742
- Manufacture Year: 1934
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 19 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
What makes the Lancaster 114 unique:
The Lancaster 114 is all about character. Its cream dial carries a vertical pinstripe texture that catches the light like brushed silk, with areas of warm, smoky patina that remind you this piece has already lived a long life. Applied gold-tone Arabic numerals—tall, slightly dramatic, and gothic in feel—rise out of that texture and are framed by a ring of circular minute markers around the edge of the dial. At center, we kept the original gold gothic-style open kite hands, which add a touch of elegance and make the time easy to read at a glance. Down at 6 o’clock, an unusual fan-shaped “Secometer” replaces the traditional sub-seconds dial, with a decorative flourish above the scale that gives this watch a distinctly Art Deco personality.
Inside, this watch is powered by a 19-jewel Hamilton movement manufactured in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1934. Hamilton built these movements for accuracy and durability, and you can see that intent through the open caseback. Broad bridges are decorated with crisp pinstripe Geneva stripes that echo the dial’s vertical texture, while polished screws and bright gold-plated gears provide plenty of visual depth. It’s a beautifully preserved example of American watchmaking in the interwar years, brought back to life to be worn every day instead of stored in a drawer.
We machined a stainless-steel case specifically for this movement and paired it with a smooth stonewashed titanium bezel that softens the light and frames the dial’s aged cream tones. An oversized knurled stonewashed-steel crown at 12 o’clock nods to the pocket-watch origins of the movement and makes winding satisfying and tactile. To finish the build, we chose a black American-made leather strap with bold contrast stitching, which grounds the watch visually and balances the warmth of the dial and numerals with a clean, modern presence on the wrist.
When this Hamilton movement left the factory in 1934, American railroads were racing to modernize. That same year, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad introduced the stainless-steel Pioneer Zephyr streamliner, a diesel-powered train that made a highly publicized run from Denver to Chicago in just over 13 hours and set new expectations for speed and efficiency in passenger travel. By preserving and converting this 1934 movement today, we’re carrying forward a small piece of the same era of innovation that reshaped how Americans moved across the country.
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.
