Watch Description
The Springfield 388 is the 388th 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 388 Unique: Today’s Watch of the Day is a very unique and truly one-of-a-kind Springfield 388. We are always trying to improve the manufacturing processes of our watches in the shop in order to provide our customers with the best possible product that we can create. Part of that process involves a lot of experimentation, as well as research and development. Many customers in the past have commented on our bronze cases, which we send out with a raw finish to them intended to patina naturally over time. As we move forward and continue to improve our process, we are trying to create a finish for our bronze cases that will arrive in a more permanent state and have a more rustic look. This watch represents the beginnings of our testing process, with an incredibly unique speckled patina that takes the character of this dial and makes this watch a real head-turner. We absolutely love how this watch turned out and could not be more excited about more one-off projects such as this moving forward. This movement was originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield, Illinois in 1925 and is in the Elite line of movements, with only 2,000 of these made. The clean machined lines and silver hardware of the build plate act as a wonderful contrast to the incredibly rustic look of the rest of the watch. Rose gold gears and gold plated balance jump out beneath the bridge and dress up this watch nicely. Our custom dark copper patina on the crown and stout strap top everything off nicely and make this watch a real showstopper. This watch truly shows its age as it gets closer to the 100-year mark, and we can’t wait to see what it looks like in the years to come.
1925
4697918
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: 2021
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 47mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 55mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: 3D Bronzed Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: See Description
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Illinois Watch Company
- Serial Number:
- Manufacture Year:
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
The Springfield 388 is the 388th 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 388 Unique: Today’s Watch of the Day is a very unique and truly one-of-a-kind Springfield 388. We are always trying to improve the manufacturing processes of our watches in the shop in order to provide our customers with the best possible product that we can create. Part of that process involves a lot of experimentation, as well as research and development. Many customers in the past have commented on our bronze cases, which we send out with a raw finish to them intended to patina naturally over time. As we move forward and continue to improve our process, we are trying to create a finish for our bronze cases that will arrive in a more permanent state and have a more rustic look. This watch represents the beginnings of our testing process, with an incredibly unique speckled patina that takes the character of this dial and makes this watch a real head-turner. We absolutely love how this watch turned out and could not be more excited about more one-off projects such as this moving forward. This movement was originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield, Illinois in 1925 and is in the Elite line of movements, with only 2,000 of these made. The clean machined lines and silver hardware of the build plate act as a wonderful contrast to the incredibly rustic look of the rest of the watch. Rose gold gears and gold plated balance jump out beneath the bridge and dress up this watch nicely. Our custom dark copper patina on the crown and stout strap top everything off nicely and make this watch a real showstopper. This watch truly shows its age as it gets closer to the 100-year mark, and we can’t wait to see what it looks like in the years to come.
1925
4697918
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.
