August 19, 2019

Meet R.T. Custer of Vortic Watch Company in Fort Collins

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to R.T. Custer.

Thanks for sharing your story with us R.T. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My great-grandfather started a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania in 1941. The farm was where I grew up and learned how to be an entrepreneur. It was always the “side hustle” for the family as everyone always had other careers, but I was selling trees when I was five-years-old, mowing grass and trimming trees all through childhood, and I helped my family manage the business in college.

During college, I started a painting company with some friends. I used the funds from that job to purchase my first home. I then used the equity in that home to obtain my first small business loan for Vortic Watch Company. Vortic was founded in my last year of college and was my side-hustle for about two years until I left the corporate job I got to go full time selling watches.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The journey has been anything but smooth. Financing a start-up company, especially a manufacturing company with high overhead, is extremely difficult. Creating a product that’s never been made before is extremely difficult. Building a brand is extremely difficult. My motto though, over the years, is “we’ll figure it out.”

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Vortic Watch Company story. Tell us more about the business.
We founded Vortic with a simple mission – build a watch that’s actually “Made In USA.” To this day, now six years later, Vortic Watch Company manufactures the only truly American made wristwatch right here in Fort Collins, Colorado.

We salvage and restore antique American pocket watches and turn them into one of a kind wristwatches. We invented a system that can take almost any American pocket watch and turn it into a wristwatch. That means we can convert family heirloom pocket watches into usable pieces of art for our customers – preserving and enhancing their family legacy.

Every single watch we make is one of a kind. Each and every watch is a unique piece of art that tells a story of a time past. We provide the only product like it, and a level of customer service that matches the quality of the product.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
My dad always says, typically about golf, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” That’s very accurate in this case as I’ve definitely had good luck. The best luck I had was when my girlfriend walked into my shop one day. She was just a business associate at the time, but is now my life partner and has been my rock and the literal roof over my head as I’ve built my company. Without her support, none of this would be the same.

Pricing:

Vortic Watch Company manufactures and sells watches priced between $1,500 and $5,000. Each piece is one of a kind and they go quickly, but there’s always some available on the customizer called the Watch Builder.

Contact Info:

Website: https://vorticwatches.com
Phone: 855-255-7884
Email: info@vorticwatches.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vorticwatches/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vorticwatches/

Image Credit:
Vortic Watch Co.

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