Watch Description
What makes the Springfield 480 unique: Today, we’re pleased to showcase this handcrafted and highly original piece initially produced by the Illinois Watch Company 110 years ago — the Springfield 480. The watch boasts an antique dial with a light-tan background and bold, dark Roman numerals. The piece also features a unique charcoal shading along its outer edge that further emphasizes its historicity and remarkable design. We matched the watch with our robust, stylish DLC case, which makes the sophisticated dial look even more stunning, and we equipped it with a copper crown. Our DLC case enables watch enthusiasts to view this piece’s historic inner workings, including its 255-grade open-face movement and going barrel. The back of the watch also features impressive and breathtaking bronze-plated gears powered by 17 splendid jewels throughout its ¾ plate. Finally, we made this antique piece even more eye-catching with our Rye leather watch strap. The Illinois Watch Company originally manufactured this piece in Springfield, Illinois, in 1912 — the same year in which Arizona became the 48th state. The United States gained ownership of the land now making up Arizona in 1848 after the Mexican-American War. Although Arizona now has a population of over 7 million, it only had just over 200,000 residents at the time in which it became an official state. Its population began to boom in the mid-20th century with the increased availability of modern luxuries like air conditioning and refrigeration.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
- Warranty: Full 1-Year Warranty
- Case Dimensions:
- Diameter: 47mm
- Thickness: 12mm
- Lug to Lug: 55mm
- Lug Width: 22mm
- Case Material: DLC Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Copper
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Illinois Watch Company
- Serial Number: 2494767
- Manufacture Year: 1912
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
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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.
