What makes the Springfield 448 unique: We decided to bring you something that is as truly unique and spectacular as it is spooky and mysterious. We work with watches that are often well over 100 years old, and you can only imagine the number of different skilled craftsmen as well as hobbyists who may have tinkered and fixed watches all throughout their long life. This watch was originally manufactured in 1921, exactly 100 years ago in Springfield Illinois, by the Illinois Watch Company. In the world of watches, when parts from different grades of watches are combined together it is often referred to as a “Frankenwatch”, inspired by the famous Frankenstein’s Monster. The origins of Halloween trace back to a time when the beginning of the year was celebrated on November 1st and marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter and the cold months, which was also typically synonymous with death. Thus many believed that on the last day of October, as the transitioning of seasons began and harvest came to an end, ghosts of the dead returned to earth for one final day. We celebrate this special watch as the bringing of two dead souls of different watches to come back to life together to create this absolutely stunning and rare piece of horology history. The base of the movement actually began as a 23 jewel 410-grade watch, one of the highest grade watches that Illinois made. At some point in time, the barrel bridge and center bridge were replaced with parts from a 406 grade Illinois, which is why if you look closely you may notice the difference in the damaskeening pattern between the different build plates as well as the raised jewels that are on the smaller finger bridges. At the end of the day, what was created is an absolutely stunning piece of history that boasts 21 jewels and an incredible story.