Watch Description
What makes the Springfield 514 unique: Today, we’re delighted to feature this eye-catching and luxurious watch originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company over a century ago — the Springfield 514. This stunning watch boasts an opulent-looking gold-colored dial with bold, black roman numerals. It also features a matching subdial with numerical minute indicators and blued-steel full moon hands. We encased this one-of-a-kind pocket watch within our robust and scratch-resistant Machined Titanium case and equipped it with a gold-plated crown that matches the piece’s dial.Our Machined Titanium case features a transparent back, revealing its 405-grade open-face movement with a gorgeous engraving that reads “The Autocrat.” The back of the watch also presents stunning bronze-plated gears powered by 17 jewels throughout its center bridge plate, and it features a going barrel. Finally, we paired this sumptuous watch with our comfortable, artisan-designed Black Stout leather watch strap, complementing the lavishly-styled dial.
The Illinois Watch Company produced the Springfield 514’s pocket watch in 1916 — the same year C. Francis Jenkins founded the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, today known as the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). SMPTE is an international network of engineers and other media professionals working in movies, television, and other digital formats. SMPTE is primarily known for establishing and implementing broadcasting standards, such as the famous SMPTE color bars, a television pattern used to test for accurate colors in North America.
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: Machined Titanium
- Crown/Hardware: Gold Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Illinois Watch Company
- Serial Number: 3020612
- Manufacture Year: 1916
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
Our Machined Titanium case features a transparent back, revealing its 405-grade open-face movement with a gorgeous engraving that reads “The Autocrat.” The back of the watch also presents stunning bronze-plated gears powered by 17 jewels throughout its center bridge plate, and it features a going barrel. Finally, we paired this sumptuous watch with our comfortable, artisan-designed Black Stout leather watch strap, complementing the lavishly-styled dial.
The Illinois Watch Company produced the Springfield 514’s pocket watch in 1916 — the same year C. Francis Jenkins founded the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, today known as the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). SMPTE is an international network of engineers and other media professionals working in movies, television, and other digital formats. SMPTE is primarily known for establishing and implementing broadcasting standards, such as the famous SMPTE color bars, a television pattern used to test for accurate colors in North America.
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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.
