Watch Description
The Springfield 396 is the 396th 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 396 Unique: The white dial and classic, dark Roman numerals caught our attention immediately. We love the look of this watch and how it manages to mix both modern and vintage styles. Subtle minute indicators around the outside of the numerals, as well as blued, steel, full moon hands comprise some of the stunning details of this timepiece. Nickel plated crown and hardware along with an olive strap and machined titanium case balance out the clean and modest look of this watch. It’s difficult not to be enamored with the inside of its movement, with 17 screw set jewels on a ¾ plate bridge and Geneva lines machined all throughout. It’s certainly a sight to behold! Rose gold gears and a brass balance wheel with double roller escapement help keep this watch running perfectly. As the final touch, we adorned the Springfield 396 with stainless steel hardware throughout. This watch was originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield, Illinois in 1918. In the same year, President Woodrow Wilson sailed from the United States to France to attend the Paris Peace Conference. He became the very first President to travel to Europe during his time in the office.
1918
3320479
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: Machined Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Nickel Plated
- 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 396 is the 396th 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 396 Unique: The white dial and classic, dark Roman numerals caught our attention immediately. We love the look of this watch and how it manages to mix both modern and vintage styles. Subtle minute indicators around the outside of the numerals, as well as blued, steel, full moon hands comprise some of the stunning details of this timepiece. Nickel plated crown and hardware along with an olive strap and machined titanium case balance out the clean and modest look of this watch. It’s difficult not to be enamored with the inside of its movement, with 17 screw set jewels on a ¾ plate bridge and Geneva lines machined all throughout. It’s certainly a sight to behold! Rose gold gears and a brass balance wheel with double roller escapement help keep this watch running perfectly. As the final touch, we adorned the Springfield 396 with stainless steel hardware throughout. This watch was originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield, Illinois in 1918. In the same year, President Woodrow Wilson sailed from the United States to France to attend the Paris Peace Conference. He became the very first President to travel to Europe during his time in the office.
1918
3320479
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.
