Hello! (Thank you Ernie and Philip for your permission to post!)
I've been reading through this forum and love seeing all these entrepreneurs launching their new watches. It's great to see the warm welcome and the constructive feedback exchanged here. I'm excited to announce my company, Vortic Watches, and our first line of watches called The American Artisan Series. I hope you all enjoy them as much as we love creating them!
Link to Kickstarter Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...merican-artisan-series-custom-watches-made-in
![Watch Still life photography]()
My friends and I started Vortic while we were in college. We're passionate about the experience of designing, building, and wearing a watch. We love building new products and prototyping them using our 3D printers. We are also passionate about American manufacturing and the history of watch making in the United States. Our first products completely embody our brand and our mission. We've gotten an excellent response on Kickstarter so far, and cannot wait to get your feedback.
![Tree Statue Zoo Fawn Leisure]()
We've sourced vintage mechanical pocket watch movements from some of the greatest American pocket watch companies; The Elgin Watch Company from just outside Chicago Illinois, The Waltham Watch Company from Boston, Massachusetts, and the Hamilton Watch Company from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. These timepieces have been salvaged from early 1900s pocket watches that were scrapped for the gold/silver value of their cases. We've partnered with professional watch makers to repair, clean, oil, and time these vintage movements and bring them back to life.
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery]()
![Close-up Metal Antique Fashion accessory Watch]()
I am an Industrial Engineer by trade, and in college I had access to cutting edge metal 3D printing technology. Our patent pending case design involves two overlapping pieces and a custom insert system. 3D printing allows us to custom make each case to accommodate for various setting types (pendant and lever set) as well as 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock crown locations. Our custom insert lets the vintage movements "float" inside the case between two Corning Gorilla Glass[SUP]TM[/SUP] crystals. It also allows us to make many different sizes and styles while offering the same price to any customer. We also offer a "mail order custom" where we'll custom build a case and band for any mechanical movement you send to us.
My partner in crime, Tyler, is our designer. He's our "artsy watch guy" type and just loves handcrafting one of a kind items. That's why we decided to hand make our leather bands and watch boxes. He's come up with a variety of classic, yet unique, buckle and stitching options so the customer can create their own unique band at their leisure. The leather for our bands is extremely high quality American hides, veg tanned in Italy, and hand cut and stitched in our workshop here in Fort Collins, Colorado. Our watch boxes are also hand made by a local Colorado carpenter using salvaged American walnut and hand cut leather straps.
![Wilderness Grass Ecoregion Grassland Plant community]()
Because we are building these watches one at a time and have so many options for our customers to choose from, we decided to create a new experience in purchasing a watch. Each customer is able to build their unique, individually numbered watch from a list of all our components using our Decision Guide. Our early birds will get to do this "catalog style" as they'll get their decision guide in the mail by Christmas. We've gotten great feedback about this idea so far, and we love it because this is how we'd like to buy a watch.
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Everyday carry Fashion accessory]()
I apologize for the novel, but you can probably tell how much I love talking about these watches! Below are some key specs, but you should view our Kickstarter campaign for all the relevant information. We are looking forward to your comments and feedback. Thank you for your time!
Link to Kickstarter Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...merican-artisan-series-custom-watches-made-in
-R.T. and the Vortic team
![Text Font Digital clock Logo Animation]()
I've been reading through this forum and love seeing all these entrepreneurs launching their new watches. It's great to see the warm welcome and the constructive feedback exchanged here. I'm excited to announce my company, Vortic Watches, and our first line of watches called The American Artisan Series. I hope you all enjoy them as much as we love creating them!
Link to Kickstarter Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...merican-artisan-series-custom-watches-made-in
My friends and I started Vortic while we were in college. We're passionate about the experience of designing, building, and wearing a watch. We love building new products and prototyping them using our 3D printers. We are also passionate about American manufacturing and the history of watch making in the United States. Our first products completely embody our brand and our mission. We've gotten an excellent response on Kickstarter so far, and cannot wait to get your feedback.
We've sourced vintage mechanical pocket watch movements from some of the greatest American pocket watch companies; The Elgin Watch Company from just outside Chicago Illinois, The Waltham Watch Company from Boston, Massachusetts, and the Hamilton Watch Company from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. These timepieces have been salvaged from early 1900s pocket watches that were scrapped for the gold/silver value of their cases. We've partnered with professional watch makers to repair, clean, oil, and time these vintage movements and bring them back to life.
I am an Industrial Engineer by trade, and in college I had access to cutting edge metal 3D printing technology. Our patent pending case design involves two overlapping pieces and a custom insert system. 3D printing allows us to custom make each case to accommodate for various setting types (pendant and lever set) as well as 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock crown locations. Our custom insert lets the vintage movements "float" inside the case between two Corning Gorilla Glass[SUP]TM[/SUP] crystals. It also allows us to make many different sizes and styles while offering the same price to any customer. We also offer a "mail order custom" where we'll custom build a case and band for any mechanical movement you send to us.
My partner in crime, Tyler, is our designer. He's our "artsy watch guy" type and just loves handcrafting one of a kind items. That's why we decided to hand make our leather bands and watch boxes. He's come up with a variety of classic, yet unique, buckle and stitching options so the customer can create their own unique band at their leisure. The leather for our bands is extremely high quality American hides, veg tanned in Italy, and hand cut and stitched in our workshop here in Fort Collins, Colorado. Our watch boxes are also hand made by a local Colorado carpenter using salvaged American walnut and hand cut leather straps.
Because we are building these watches one at a time and have so many options for our customers to choose from, we decided to create a new experience in purchasing a watch. Each customer is able to build their unique, individually numbered watch from a list of all our components using our Decision Guide. Our early birds will get to do this "catalog style" as they'll get their decision guide in the mail by Christmas. We've gotten great feedback about this idea so far, and we love it because this is how we'd like to buy a watch.
I apologize for the novel, but you can probably tell how much I love talking about these watches! Below are some key specs, but you should view our Kickstarter campaign for all the relevant information. We are looking forward to your comments and feedback. Thank you for your time!
- Elgin, Waltham, and Hamilton pocket watch movements
- Varying sizes (6 through 16s)
- Varying jewel counts
- Available in lever set or pendent set
- Available with 12 o'clock or 3 o'clock crowns
- 316 Stainless Steel cases 3D printed and infiltrated with bronze
- Small size diameter = 42mm
- Medium size diameter = 47mm
- Large size diameter = 51mm
- Corning Gorilla Glass[SUP]TM[/SUP] crystals with oleophobic coating
- Genuine American leather bands handcrafted in Fort Collins, CO.
- Available in 22mm or 16mm
Link to Kickstarter Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...merican-artisan-series-custom-watches-made-in
-R.T. and the Vortic team
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