IWC

Aristo Jones, a Florentine, was the company's first founder. an engineer and watchmaker from the United States. Jones worked for the prestigious Boston watch business E. Howard Watch and Clock Co. before founding IWC in 1868.

Jones, who was only in his twenties at the time, had already risen through the ranks of the corporation to become deputy director and manager. Jones, on the other hand, had his heart set on creating his own watch company.

Most young men seeking money moved west at the time, but Jones' idea for his new business took him overseas. He wanted to push the boundaries of watchmaking by mixing cutting-edge American technology with tried-and-true Swiss workmanship.

As a result, Jones headed off for Switzerland, carrying with him all of the most cutting-edge watchmaking technology. He then had to put together a team of Swiss watchmakers and find an appropriate location for IWC's headquarters.

Jones, on the other hand, struggled to win over the renowned watchmaking towns in western Switzerland. Jones's unconventional business concept made the well-established watchmakers there wary, and they refused to collaborate with him.

Jones, on the other hand, persisted and was able to gain support in the northern Schaffhausen area. Johann Heinrich Moser, an established pocket watch maker, was an early admirer of Jones.

Moser had lately opened a hydraulic factory in Schaffhausen, by the way. This facility, which was powered by the adjacent Rhine River, provided low-cost electricity to local companies.

Jones required such a huge supply of electricity to power his high-tech devices. As a result, the International Watch Company has finally settled in Schaffhausen.

IWC relocated from the Moser Industrial Complex to its own facility only a few years later, in 1875. This plant, which was established in Baumgarten, along the Rhine riverbanks, is still the company's headquarters today.

IWC has always lived true to its slogan, "Probus Scafusia," which means "excellent, solid craftsmanship from Schaffhausen" in Latin.

Jones was both a great watch designer and a savvy businessman. His pocket watches were well-received in the United States because of their cutting-edge movements and excellent polishing.

Vintage IWC pocket watches with "Jones movements" are highly sought after as collector's goods nowadays.

Jones returned to America in 1880 after selling IWC to the Rauschenbachs, a family of engine makers. Following then, IWC prospered and was passed down through four generations of the Rauschenbach family.

IWC manufactured numerous unique pocket watches under Rauschenbach's supervision. IWC, for example, was the first to introduce digital hour and minute displays into pocket watches in 1885.

Over the following century, the company's leadership and direction changed many times. Emma and Bertha Rauschenbach married Carl Jung, a distinguished psychologist, and Ernst Jakob Hombeger, an industrialist, in 1903.

Jung and Homberger shared ownership of the firm until Homberger acquired Jung's part in 1929 and became the sole owner.

Ernst Jakob Homberger was the company's leader during World War II and the postwar years. He was in charge of the launch of some of IWC's most recognizable designs and inventions.

Albert Pellaton became IWC Technical Director during Homberger's tenure as company president. For IWC, Pellaton created a variety of novel watch features and mechanisms, notably the bi-directional "Pellaton winding system."

Hans Ernst Homberger, Homberger's son, took over as CEO of IWC after his father died in 1955. IWC began developing clocks for sports and diving under the leadership of Hans Ernst Homberger, an Olympic champion rower.

VDO Adolf Schindling AG, a German company, purchased IWC in 1978. Despite all of these changes in leadership, the company's history of watchmaking quality has never been jeopardized.

IWC has thrived as part of the Swiss luxury goods conglomerate Richemont.