Vortic Watch Company & Colorado Watch Company’s time is now
On a cold, early February day in southern England, a bright sun reflects off the fuselages of a squadron of bombers, B-17s, the fabled Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces. On this day in 1944, these planes will lift off on a dangerous and heroic mission to bomb a submarine installation in occupied France that some, sadly, will not return from. Inside the cockpit of each plane, in a metal canister with a sliding dial and suspended on a cradle of springs to preserve the mechanics and movements inside, is a watch – a pocket watch. Crystal-less and with faces of matted black to prevent giveaway reflection, the watches’ numbers run from 1 to 24 – military time. They are precision instruments, tools the crews will lean on to time their run and synchronize their raid.
Vortic Watch Company and the Colorado Watch Company are headquartered at 324 Jefferson St. in Fort Collins.
These watches, like the planes and the men that crew them, are all American made … and among the best in the world…