IWC, also known as the International Watch Company, is a manufacturer of luxury Swiss watches. Founded in 1868 by an American watchmaker called Florentine Ariosto Jones (1841-1916), IWC was opened as the first and only clock manufacturer in northeastern Switzerland. Jones, 27 years later became Deputy Director and manager of E. Howard Watch and Clock Company in Boston, a leading American watchmaker at the time.
He aims to produce high-quality pocket watches for the American market by combining sophisticated American manufacturing technology together with the right expertise by Switzerland, creating a modern factory where production will take place in a centralized place. However, many skilled workers in the region were not on board with Jones's idea because they were not ready to move their industry to the modern 19th century.
After that, Jones was introduced to Heinrich Moser, a watchmaker and industrialist at Schaffhausen. He built the first hydroelectric plant and laid the cornerstone for future industrialization in Schaffhausen. It is the center of one of the oldest clock-making regions on the Rhine, and it is across the river from Germany. This is Jones's plan to be able to produce high quality watches in large batches at home that have the same tolerance to enable these watches to become famous throughout the world.
After seven years in 1975, Jones built a new factory along the banks of the Rhine River. In it, he has 196 employees on duty at the company. Five years later in 1880, Jones sold the IWC to Johannes Rauschenbach-Vogel (1815-1881), an industrial machinery manufacturer in Schaffhausen. The company changed its name to Uhrenfabrik von J. Rauschenbach. A year after the sale was completed, Johannes Rauschenbach died, leaving his son, Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk, to take over.
The company changed its name to Erben Uhrenfabrik von J. Rauschenbach. Rauschenbach-Schenk took the company when he was 25, and ran until he died in 1905.
Rauschenbach-Schenk left his wife and two daughters, with his sons-in-Law to take over the business. Ernst Jakob Homberger, who was the Director of G. Fischer AG, decided to take control of the company in 1905, eventually becoming the sole owner of the company after buying the shares of Carl Jung, his brother-in-law in 1929. The company changed its name to Uhrenfabrik von Ernst Homberger-Rauschenbach.
There were two other important people who contributed to the company, one was Urs Haenggi. He joined IWC in 1883 and lived with the company for 52 years. Another individual, Johann Vogel, was an engineer who played an important role in the company as technical director until 1919. In 1944, Albert Pellaton took up his position as Technical Director of IWC.
Hans Ernst Homberger, son of Ernst Jakob Homberger, joined the company in 1934 and took over the company after the death of his father in 1955. In 1978, German instrument maker VDO Adolf Schindling AG took over the IWC because it required high-level venture capital for changes in direction and plans due to the quartz crisis in the 70s and 80s. IWC also got its name originally given by Jones. In total, the Rauschenbach family owned the IWC for four generations under sole ownership.
In 1981, Kawal Singh replaced Homberger as General Manager after he retired. Günter Blümlein was appointed as the new Director and played a major role in the development of the company and assisted the company in strengthening its finances. In 1991, Blümlein founded LMH Group, a luxury goods holding company that has a 100% stake in IWC. In 2000, IWC became part of Richemont, a luxury goods giant based in Zug. Richemont agreed to have an IWC managed by the same executive from LMH Group. The new East Annexe of the company's premise in Schaffhausen was formalized in 2005. In 2007, the IWC opened the Watch Museum to the public, displaying its rich history right where the case and part of the movement had been made. The western pavilion building for watchmakers was completed in 2008.
IWC watches have a rich history, which includes more than 135 years of watchmaking expertise and experience. In 1885, the Ballweber system was introduced - the first wristwatch with a digital clock and minute display. In 1887, The Magique was produced, a pocket watch in a Cabriolet case with a 24-hour screen that could be used either as a hunter or an open-face pocket watch. One of the first watches known on the market, a 64 caliber women's watch movement in a case attached to a leather band by Lug was produced in 1899. There was also a 63 caliber movement used for additional watches.
In 1915, the company developed two new calibres, the 75 and 76 Caliber, without and with small seconds respectively. This is the first movement designed for watches. In 1931, IWC produced an elegant rectangular watch containing the newly designed Tonneau-shaped 87 caliber. In 1936, the IWC launched the first "Special Pilot's Watch", which featured a rotating bezel with a spirit index that could be used to register Take-Off time, as well as anti magnetic escapement mounted inside it. In 1939, a Portuguese watch was born. Two importers from Portugal ordered a series of large watches with high-precision bag pockets.
Then in 1940, due to demand for a central second hand, the IWC developed the Big Pilot Watch 52 T.S.C. In 1944, the IWC released a new watch for military use by the British Army. Letter W. w. W stands for "Watch, wrist, waterproof" carved on the back of the watch. The royal arrowheads are used as a sign of ownership. In 1946, its first design, movement caliber 89, had a middle second hand and was very accurate. In 1948, pilot Watch Mark 11 was presented with an caliber of 89. The soft inner shell of the metal provided high protection against the magnetic field.
In 1950, 85 caliber was produced. Designed by Pellaton, it has the first automatic winding mechanism of the IWC. This is an innovative Pawl-Winding system that replaces traditional reciprocal gearing and is a proprietary development patented by the then IWC. Ingenieur with Winding was automatically launched in 1955. In 1959, the first women's movement was automatically released, 44 caliber. In 1967, the IWC marked the start of a series of successful professional divers observers with Aquatimer.
The watch is waterproof to 20 bars which is very deep. The company auto yacht club was also inaugurated at the Basel Watch Show. In 1969, IWC developed a beta 21 quartz movement, the caliber of a watch with quartz control at a frequency of 8192 Hertz. Da Vinci was the first watch to display the movement, marking the revolution of watchmaking. In 1976, a new Ingenieur was produced, to Ingenieur SL. In 1977, the IWC introduced elements to add complications with more features to their watches, including a series of intricate pocket watches, some of which also had skeletons. 9721 caliber was also inaugurated, the first pocket watch with a calendar and moon phase display. In 1978, IWC collaborated with F. A Porsche to produce the first watch with Kompas.
In 1980, the world's first chronograph in the case of Titanium was produced by IWC, designed by F.A. Porsche. IWC gained their expertise in machining Titanium through the exchange of ideas with Aérospatiale and other leading technology specialists. In 1982, the ultra-rough clock Ocean 2000 divers were launched, made of titanium and resistant to 200 Bar pressure.
In 1985, The Da Vinci was the first chronograph to display a perpetual calendar that was programmed mechanically for the next 500 years and arranged by turning knobs, and there was also a four-digit year display available. In 1986, IWC introduced the use of zirconium oxide, a ceramic that is scratch resistant and almost unbreakable as a new case material. In 1987, the first square watch, waterproof and automatic with a timeless calendar was presented, named Novecento, which was Italian for "the 20th century". The Grande complication that on the size of the watch presents many functions: Chronograph with a perpetual calendar, Repeater minutes and moon phase display. This is a product of seven years in the making; completed in 1990.
To mark 125 years of the IWC in 1993, a watch was inaugurated and named II Destriero Scafusia, "The Warhorse of Schaffhausen". At that time, the most complicated mechanical watches in the world that came in stock were limited editions of 125 pieces. It features several complications, including Tourbillon, Split-seconds, Repeater minutes and a perpetual calendar. In 1995, The Da Vinci was represented as a split second chronograph with the tenth hand, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the automatic Da Vinci Chronograph. The new GST sports watch line debuted in 1997. In 1998, the designer launched the pilot Watch UTC (Universal Time coordinated) which has a wristwatch that can be adjusted in one hour step, as well as a 24-hour screen. GST Deep One was released in 1999, a demonstration of IWC creativity for divers watches. This is the first watch with a mechanical depth gauge.
In 2000, the designer developed his own company movement for large watches, with an extra 5,000 large caliber that ran for seven days without interruption and featured a display of Pellaton automatic power backup and winding system. In 2002, Big pilot Watch was presented at the International Salon de La Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Java. It has a 7-day movement, automatic winding, power backup and date display, reviving the tradition of Big pilot Watch. A variety of new Spitfire pilot watches were released in 2003.
In 2005, new additions to the Portuguese and Da Vinci were presented, with Ingenieur coming back in 3 versions after 50 years. In 2007, the Da Vinci track in the form of Tonneau was released, with a completely new movement and the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Edition Kurt Klaus, named after the man who invented the calendar to commemorate his golden jubilee with the IWC. The Big Ingenieur and the Spitfire Double Chronograph were also released that year.
In 2008, for its 140th birthday, IWC launched an exclusive vintage Collection to pay tribute to the legendary founders of six watching families. IWC released a new generation of technical enhancements to Aquatimer watches as well as Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar digital dates with large digital displays for dates and months in 2009. For the first time in 2010, the Portuguese Tourbillon Mystère rétrograde combines flying Tourbillon with a backward date display.
In 2011, the IWC watches presented the most complex and exclusive mechanical watch ever at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. In 2012, the TOP GUN line was released. In 2013, IWC collaborated with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team to come up with the overhauled Ingenieur collection. IWC celebrates the 75th birthday of the Portuguese watching family, with the newly designed 52000-Caliber family.
At present, IWC has 6 main collections of watches, mainly pilot watches, Portugieser, Portofino, Da Vinci, Ingenieur, and Aquatimer. They have a total of more than 100 watches available for people to choose from. There are also special collections that are released from time to time to commemorate events or collaborations with others. Located in 99 countries around the world, IWC has many retail stores and authorized retailers. In Singapore alone, there are 16 official retailers and 2 boutiques that provide services and special products for IWC watches. The rich history that they have proved them to be the very high-quality luxury watch manufacturer at IWC Schaffhausen Watches.
