The Lancaster 085 (47mm) Purchase Sale Online

The Lancaster 085 is the 85th one-of-a-kind piece in Vortic’s “Lancaster” line of the American Artisan Series. This watch contains the original movement (timepiece), dial (face), and hands from a vintage (1880’s – 1950’s) pocket watch. The American Artisan Series is a line of fully American Made wristwatches powered by restored, U.S. made pocket watch movements.

What makes the Lancaster 085 Unique: Today’s Watch of the Day is the Lancaster 085, as we continue to showcase our fantastic DLC black cases with so many of these unique dials. The smokey patina on this dial paired with an ornate design in the double-sunk dial gives this watch incredible character. The gothic style cobalt blue hands stand out beautifully and pair well with the moss strap and nickel crown. On the back, we see more blued steel elements in the hardware, as well as a very distinct vertical pattern, machined into the build plate. 17 screw set jewels and gold plated gears and balance round off the classy look of this amazing Hamilton Watch. On this date, April 20th, 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the element Radium in their lab in Paris. At the time Radium was looked at as the miracle cure for a handful of ailments and was thought to help cure cancer. The element had a glowing effect in the dark, and for this reason, was used by the United States Radium Corporation to paint watch dials. The painting on the watch dials helped the hands and numerals glow so that you could read the watch at night. Each dial was hand-painted by female workers, and later proved to actually be quite harmful rather than helpful, and caused considerable health issues and death for many workers. Even to this day, we still find old watches with traces of Radium leftover from this interesting time in our country’s history and have to take extra precautions when we do find them.

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