What makes the Springfield 444 unique: Today we happily present to you the Springfield 444, a stunning timepiece from the Illinois Watch Company. The gold-plated design work on the inner portion of this double-sunk dial is a great focal point to draw your attention to the finer details of this watch. We paired our gold-plated crown and hardware to tie in the vintage feel, cased in our machined titanium for extra visual appeal. Our natural strap brings everything together nicely, letting the craftsmanship of the dial shine through. As we turn this watch over, we are immediately taken aback by the intricacies and different layers of this amazing movement. The original craftsman named this watch accordingly, as you can see here with the insignia “Special” that is displayed across the main bridge plate. Gold-plated gears and a brass balance wheel bring precious metal accents, as well as the 17 screw-set jewels that keep everything spinning on track. This watch was originally manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company in 1925 in Springfield, Illinois. The founder of Illinois, Jacob Bunn, passed away in 1897 and was replaced by his youngest son, Jacob Bunn Jr as president of the company. Bunn decided to discontinue building medium-grade watches and focused on improving quality and selling the brand as the most popular and most reliable railroad watch in the country. Beginning in 1914 they focused only on high-quality watches with 17 or more jewels, and the company was growing faster than ever. A typical Illinois Watch took anywhere from eight to twelve months from the time work began on it until it was ready to leave the factory. The watches were guaranteed to be accurate within 30 seconds a week in up to five positions, and at temperatures from nearly freezing to almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit.