Watch Description
The Rockford 037 is the 37th one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Rockford" 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 Rockford 037 Unique: Every watch we make is uniquely special in it’s own way, and this watch is no exception to that. This particular Rockford is the kind of piece that you’ll want to take off just to show off the intricacies of the movement behind this very clean and simple dial. This rare ¾ bridge plate has three separate “fingers” to hold the 3rd, 4th and escape wheels in place. This extra detail in the manufacturing of the movement opens up the gears for a better look inside and demands a second and third look. The gold lacquered text and brass hardware help to really accent the wavy details of this main plate and make for a truly amazing marvel of manufacturing. We are continually amazed by the detail that went into every single one of these antique parts within the watch. Rockford Watch Company was established in 1873 and produced it’s first run of watches in 1876. They focused on smaller batches of very high-quality watches, which is what makes these watches so rare. This watch was manufactured in 1913 and is one of only 2,600 produced in this particular batch. We love to work with these Rockford watches as they always seem to have a rare quality and esteem, and now you can see why. Our new Gunmetal finish to this machined titanium case is accented with a custom bronze crown that we patina to match the case and strap.
1913
923649
Movement Manufacturer Information
The movement inside of this watch was made by Rockford Watch Company. We call this model "The Rockford" because the company was located in Rockford Illinois.
The Rockford Watch Company began operation in 1873 with equipment purchased from the Cornell Watch Company. Four hundred local businesses and individuals pledged $150,000 (over $3mil with inflation) of support to stimulate the growth of their town. The company struggled to keep up with demand early on, and eventually went bankrupt. Rockford was rejuvenated in 1901, but a major fire and lightning strike slowed the company further in 1903. By 1915 the company closed its doors, though the building still stands vacant.
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: Machined Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Bronze
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Rockford Watch Company
- Serial Number:
- Manufacture Year:
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Rockford 037 is the 37th one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Rockford" 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 Rockford 037 Unique: Every watch we make is uniquely special in it’s own way, and this watch is no exception to that. This particular Rockford is the kind of piece that you’ll want to take off just to show off the intricacies of the movement behind this very clean and simple dial. This rare ¾ bridge plate has three separate “fingers” to hold the 3rd, 4th and escape wheels in place. This extra detail in the manufacturing of the movement opens up the gears for a better look inside and demands a second and third look. The gold lacquered text and brass hardware help to really accent the wavy details of this main plate and make for a truly amazing marvel of manufacturing. We are continually amazed by the detail that went into every single one of these antique parts within the watch. Rockford Watch Company was established in 1873 and produced it’s first run of watches in 1876. They focused on smaller batches of very high-quality watches, which is what makes these watches so rare. This watch was manufactured in 1913 and is one of only 2,600 produced in this particular batch. We love to work with these Rockford watches as they always seem to have a rare quality and esteem, and now you can see why. Our new Gunmetal finish to this machined titanium case is accented with a custom bronze crown that we patina to match the case and strap.
1913
923649
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.
