IWC Schaffhausen

The Boston-born watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones founded the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen in 1868. Hydropower from the Rhine and trained workers were meant to enable industrial production along American lines.

In 1939, at the request of two Portuguese merchants, a wristwatch with the precision of a marine chronometer was created: a large case fitted with a pocket watch movement. This commission later became the Portugieser.

From 1936 IWC built observation watches for pilots, and from 1940 the Big Pilot's Watch with its 55mm case. In 1955 came the Ingenieur, with its soft-iron inner case to protect against magnetic fields, and in 1967 the Aquatimer as the house's first diver's watch.

In 1985 IWC presented the Da Vinci with Kurt Klaus's perpetual calendar, adjustable through the crown. Since 2000 the manufacture has belonged to the Richemont Group.