Vortic American Artisan Series 51mm

About this entry

27% of key specs known. Missing: movement, lug-to-lug, thickness, lug width, weight, case material, hardening, AR coating, crown, lume, bracelet offered.

Vortic's American Artisan Series in the 51mm Railroad Edition case; every 51mm piece is a Railroad version. Every piece is unique: Vortic restores an antique American railroad-grade pocket-watch movement (kept with its original dial and hands) and converts it into a wristwatch in a Vortic case, so the specific watch, movement and price vary from piece to piece. Vortic names each series after the city where, or near where, the movement's maker was based. Variants are the series sold in this size. Each is priced from the cheapest piece of that series in 51mm for sale on 2026-10-24, or, when none was for sale, from the most recently listed sold piece, citing that piece's page. On that date the store listed 16 pieces in 51mm. One, The Chicago Railroad 039, is a pocket watch Vortic built in the railroad case ("we do make pocket watches!") and is left out. None of the other 15 was for sale, so every price comes from the latest sold piece of its series, all listed in 2019 or 2020. Series (movement maker, as Vortic gives it), pieces listed, price range and the year the priced piece was listed: Boston Railroad (Waltham Watch Company) 5, $4,500-$6,000, latest sold 2020; Cleveland Railroad (Ball Watch Company, whose movements Vortic says were made by Hamilton and Waltham) 4, $5,000-$8,000, latest sold 2020; Chicago Railroad (Elgin Watch Company) 2, $4,500-$5,000, latest sold 2020; Burlington Railroad (Burlington Watch Company, whose watches Vortic says were mostly made by Illinois) 1, $4,000, sold 2019; Lancaster Railroad (Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) 1, $5,000, sold 2020; Rockford Railroad (Rockford Watch Company) 1, $7,000, sold 2019; Springfield Railroad (Illinois Watch Company, Springfield, Illinois) 1, $4,300, sold 2019. Status unknown: no 51mm piece has been listed since September 2020 and the Railroad versions listed since then are 49mm; Vortic's watch builder is "taking a break" and its American Artisan Series page names no case sizes, so no current page offers the 51mm case. Only the older Railroad Edition page still mentions it, and Vortic does not say it has been discontinued. Movement: manual-wind, lever-set railroad-grade pocket-watch movements (Vortic's Railroad Edition page; most spec tables say "Manual Wind, Lever-Set"); maker, grade, jewel count (19 to 23) and year differ by piece, so no caliber is recorded. The spec tables give about 36 hours' power reserve. Case, per Vortic's Railroad Edition page: three pieces, with body and lugs 3D-printed from titanium and a coin-edge bezel and exhibition back machined from 316 stainless steel; the bezel comes off by hand (a cam-lock) to reach the movement's setting lever, with two o-rings beneath it sealing the case. The pieces' spec tables list machined titanium, DLC titanium and machined bronze cases, so case material is left blank. Specs recorded are those all 12 spec tables agree on (three 51mm pages have none): 1 ATM water resistance and sapphire crystals front and back (display caseback). No 51mm page gives thickness, lug-to-lug or lug width. The crown is at 12 o'clock on the pieces pictured, where it was on the pocket watch (some 45mm and 47mm pieces have the movement turned to put it at 3). Vortic's American Artisan Series page says the crystals are Corning Gorilla Glass; the product spec tables say sapphire, which is recorded.

Last verified: 2026-10-24. Edit or correct this entry.

Sources

• Vortic Watch Store collection (every American Artisan Series piece; case-diameter and movement-maker filters) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic store product feed, pages 1-6 (titles, prices, publish dates and availability of every listed piece) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, Railroad Edition information (51mm three-piece case, removable bezel) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, Watch Builder page ("taking a break"; "We build one new watch every day") accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Boston Railroad 030 (51mm) (latest 51mm Boston Railroad listed, 2020; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Cleveland Railroad 016 (51mm) (latest 51mm Cleveland Railroad listed, 2020; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Chicago Railroad 033 (51mm) (latest 51mm Chicago Railroad wristwatch listed, 2020; spec table; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Chicago Railroad 039 (51mm) (a pocket watch in the railroad case; left out) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Burlington Railroad 002 (51mm) (only 51mm Burlington Railroad listed, 2019; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Lancaster Railroad 018 (51mm) (only 51mm Lancaster Railroad listed, 2020; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Rockford Railroad 002 (51mm) (only 51mm Rockford Railroad listed, 2019; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Springfield Railroad 025 (51mm) (only 51mm Springfield Railroad listed, 2019; sold) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, The Boston Railroad 029 (51mm) (sold 2020 piece; photos) accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, American Artisan Series information accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic, Warranty and return policy ("each watch built by Vortic is completely custom and is legitimately one-of-a-kind") accessed 2026-10-24
• Vortic Watch Co., About us accessed 2026-10-24