Watch Description
What makes the Springfield 568 unique: Today, we’re happy to feature this luxurious watch that was initially produced by the Illinois Watch Company in 1925 — the Springfield 568. This watch boasts a gorgeous white dial with bold black numerals and a matching subdial. The front of the piece also has distinct black diamond kite watch hands with red tips, encased within a domed crystal.
This dial is an especially remarkable part of our collection because our watchmaker Kent Parks applied a special Lume by hand, enabling some small details to glow in the dark. Kent says; “The dial has 4 precisely hand-applied coatings of B-17F NoctiLumina to the indexes in the chapter ring behind each number on the dial. It is finished with 2 light coats of Binder 3 to give the lume a "pearl" finish.
“The work is done by hand, and luming 6 coats on such tiny areas demanded the best of my 20 years of experience in this field. We took great pains to select an appropriate dial to lume and made sure we were merely enhancing what was already there. All printing is as seen on the original dial. In fact, with a real close view, the original is enhanced in bright daylight by the tiny white pearls around the chapter ring and the red hands. And at night you can read your watch in a dark room, with less than a minute’s exposure to the light”
We encased the pocket watch in our sleek DLC Black Titanium case and topped it with a nickel-plated crown. Our DLC Black Titanium case features an open back, enabling you to see the pocket watch’s 405-grade open-face movement with a Going barrel and 17 jewels, and gold-plated gears.
This 17-jewel 12s Illinois movement also boasts a center bridge plate with a stunning engraving that reads “The Governor,” referring to the pocket watch’s variation. The screws were heat-treated to match the copper-colored jewel casings. Finally, we equipped the watch with our artisan-designed Cordovan Black leather watch strap, making the watch look even more smart and stylish.
The Illinois Watch Company originally manufactured the pocket watch in Springfield, Illinois, in 1925 — the same year that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the groundbreaking first feature-length adaptation of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The film set MGM on the stage as a major film studio, but the movie actually lost the company money ($698,000) in its initial theatrical release due to its massive budget.
The average film that MGM produced in 1925 cost $158,000 (close to $2,700,000 today) while Ben Hur cost the studio a whopping $3,900,000 (a little over $66,000,000 today), making it the most expensive film of the silent era. MGM re-released the film with a musical score in 1931, and with the re-release earnings, the film earned the studio $81,000.
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: Nickel Plated
- Water Resistance: 1 ATM
- Crystals: Sapphire
- Case Back: Stainless Steel
- Strap: Leather
Movement
- Manufacturer: Illinois Watch Company
- Serial Number: 4578221
- Manufacture Year: 1925
- Function: Manual Wind
- Jewels: 17 Jewels
- Hands: Original
- Size: 12s
- Power Reserve: ~36 Hours
What makes the Springfield 568 unique: Today, we’re happy to feature this luxurious watch that was initially produced by the Illinois Watch Company in 1925 — the Springfield 568. This watch boasts a gorgeous white dial with bold black numerals and a matching subdial. The front of the piece also has distinct black diamond kite watch hands with red tips, encased within a domed crystal.
This dial is an especially remarkable part of our collection because our watchmaker Kent Parks applied a special Lume by hand, enabling some small details to glow in the dark. Kent says; “The dial has 4 precisely hand-applied coatings of B-17F NoctiLumina to the indexes in the chapter ring behind each number on the dial. It is finished with 2 light coats of Binder 3 to give the lume a "pearl" finish.
“The work is done by hand, and luming 6 coats on such tiny areas demanded the best of my 20 years of experience in this field. We took great pains to select an appropriate dial to lume and made sure we were merely enhancing what was already there. All printing is as seen on the original dial. In fact, with a real close view, the original is enhanced in bright daylight by the tiny white pearls around the chapter ring and the red hands. And at night you can read your watch in a dark room, with less than a minute’s exposure to the light”
We encased the pocket watch in our sleek DLC Black Titanium case and topped it with a nickel-plated crown. Our DLC Black Titanium case features an open back, enabling you to see the pocket watch’s 405-grade open-face movement with a Going barrel and 17 jewels, and gold-plated gears.
This 17-jewel 12s Illinois movement also boasts a center bridge plate with a stunning engraving that reads “The Governor,” referring to the pocket watch’s variation. The screws were heat-treated to match the copper-colored jewel casings. Finally, we equipped the watch with our artisan-designed Cordovan Black leather watch strap, making the watch look even more smart and stylish.
The Illinois Watch Company originally manufactured the pocket watch in Springfield, Illinois, in 1925 — the same year that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the groundbreaking first feature-length adaptation of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The film set MGM on the stage as a major film studio, but the movie actually lost the company money ($698,000) in its initial theatrical release due to its massive budget.
The average film that MGM produced in 1925 cost $158,000 (close to $2,700,000 today) while Ben Hur cost the studio a whopping $3,900,000 (a little over $66,000,000 today), making it the most expensive film of the silent era. MGM re-released the film with a musical score in 1931, and with the re-release earnings, the film earned the studio $81,000.
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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.
