Watch Description
What makes the Springfield 509 unique: Today, we’re excited to showcase this exquisite piece originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company in 1922 — the Springfield 509. The watch features a stunning cream-colored dial with faint, stylish vertical lines. The dial also boasts royal blue diamond kite watch hands and black numerals. We encased the pocket watch within our breathtaking Gunmetal Titanium case and equipped it with a gold-plated crown, making the piece look even more luxurious. On the back of the watch, you can view its 405-grade open-face movement with a center bridge plate, going barrel, and highly unique gold coloring near its gears. The watch also features robust bronze-plated gears powered by 17 jewels throughout its bridge plate. Finally, we matched the timepiece with our sumptuous Cordovan Black leather watch strap, complementing the dial’s numerals and our Gunmetal Titanium case. The Illinois Watch Company initially produced the Springfield 509’s pocket watch in Springfield, Illinois, in 1922 — the same year T.S. Eliot released his poem The Waste Land. For several years, Eliot worked on different parts of what would eventually become the renowned poem. Before titling the piece The Waste Land, Eliot considered using the title He Do the Police in Different Voices, a line from Charles Dickens’ 1864 novel Our Mutual Friend.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: Gunmetal Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Gold Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Illinois Watch Company
- Serial Number: 4099054
- Manufacture Year: 1922
- 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.
