Watch Description
The Springfield 353 is the 353rd one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Springfield" 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 Springfield 353 Unique: Anyone from Santa Fe? This movement was originally manufactured for the Santa Fe Railroad by Illinois Watch Co in 1929. Everything about this is rare and special. The dial is double signed, meaning it says both Illinois and Santa Fe. It’s also a Montgomery dial, which is an extremely rare feature on a 12size movement. The 21jewel movement is immaculately decorated, rounding out this collectors dream watch. This dial has "kite hands" with the diamonds on the end and boasts a beautifully kept Montgomery dial. The machined titanium case allows the dial to be the focus while we used the round gold crown and Cordovan black strap to match the class of this watch. The year this movement was produced was the Wall Street Crash - the bubble bursted on October 24th, known as Black Thursday, and stock prices fell sharply with a reported loss of $5 billion on that day.
1929
5261096
https://player.vimeo.com/video/466665385
Movement Manufacturer Information
The movement inside of this watch was made by Illinois Watch Company. We call this model "The Springfield" because the company was located in Springfield, Illinois.
Originally called the Springfield Watch Company, Illinois came to Springfield, Illinois in 1869 while the "modern" watch industry was fairly new but highly promising. City officials felt that the addition of industry to the city of Springfield would be excellent for the city's growth. However, after a series of failures and re-brandings, the company had a slow start until 1903 when they decided to manufacture high-quality watches only. Eventually making some of the most beautiful watches of their time, the company sold to Hamilton in 1927. Hamilton continued producing watches under the Illinois name for some time, but the original Springfield factory no longer stands.
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 Dimensions:
- Diameter: 47mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 55mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: See Description
- Crown/Hardware: Gold Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Horween Shell Cordovan Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Illinois Watch Company
- Serial Number:
- Manufacture Year:
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 21 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Springfield 353 is the 353rd one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic's "Springfield" 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 Springfield 353 Unique: Anyone from Santa Fe? This movement was originally manufactured for the Santa Fe Railroad by Illinois Watch Co in 1929. Everything about this is rare and special. The dial is double signed, meaning it says both Illinois and Santa Fe. It’s also a Montgomery dial, which is an extremely rare feature on a 12size movement. The 21jewel movement is immaculately decorated, rounding out this collectors dream watch. This dial has "kite hands" with the diamonds on the end and boasts a beautifully kept Montgomery dial. The machined titanium case allows the dial to be the focus while we used the round gold crown and Cordovan black strap to match the class of this watch. The year this movement was produced was the Wall Street Crash - the bubble bursted on October 24th, known as Black Thursday, and stock prices fell sharply with a reported loss of $5 billion on that day.
1929
5261096
https://player.vimeo.com/video/466665385
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.
