IWC Watches

International Watch Co. Ltd.   

Schaffhausen, Switzerland      

                                                Since 1868                                                       

In the 1860's another American  was to make a lasting impression on the Swiss watch scene visited Switzerland with the idea of setting up a watch factory to take advantage of the lower wage rates and the local expertise.  In 1869 Florentine Ariosto Jones from Boston settled in the Schaffhausen in eastern Switzerland---an unlikely spot, far from the traditional watchmaking  centers of Geneva and the Jura--where he was offered a factory with hydro-electric power from the Rhine.  Jones, who had visions of exporting his products back to the US called his company the International Watch Co.

The early years were hard, and although production reached 400,000 pieces in 1872- thanks to the new machines introduced by Jones-Sales fell off.  His export plan failed because of the high import duty (24%) and by 1875 the firm was in the hands of the bank, which appointed Johan Rauschenbach, a successful local engineer, as Managing Director.

The survival of the company owes much to a talented watchmaker, Urs Haenggi, who joined in 1883 and stayed the rest of his life.  He put the companies affairs in order and introduced new calibers to the products.  Rauschenbachs son and successor had proved of little help, but his granddaughter Bertha had married Ernst Homberger, a Schaffhausen industrialist, who in 1905 was awarded powers of attorney to act for members of the family, which included Bertha's elder sister and her husband C.G. Jung, the famous Psychiatrist.

Ernst Homberger took over the running of the business in 1929 and renamed it Uhrenfabrik Ernst Homberger Rauschenbach; when his father-in-law died, Ernst dropped his name from the title.  In the mid-1950's Ernst's son Hans took control; an Anglophile who had rowed at Henley, he renamed it International Watch Co. HE Homberger AG.  He was the last private owner.  Since 1978, when the Swiss watch industry was in serious trouble and the company was rescued by an injection of capital from VDO, a German industrial conglomerate, IWC has been known once more by Jones original title International Watch Co.

Since its early days, IWC has made watchmaking history.  Jones original 19 ligne calibers, one of the first to feature crown winding, are collectors treasures.  In 1885 the company produced the first-ever pocket watch with digital hour and minute displays.  In 1890 saw its first Grande Complication, with 1,000 parts that took a year to assemble and finish totally by hand.  IWC was among the first to make wristwatches based on one of their ladies pocket watches, and it supplied marine chronometers to several of the worlds Navies.

The mid 1930's saw the launch of its first wristwatch designed specially for pilots.  Its movement protected against magnetic fields, a feature which was incorporated into the famous Ingenieur line with its soft iron inner case and ability to withstand 500,000 a/m.

The Portugieser is another re-issue.  Created originally as an extra large wristwatch with a pocket watch movement, the split second chronograph version of 1995 had a hand-wound Cal 76240 movement with 45 hours of power reserve.  Later it was made even more complicated by the addition of a minute repeater-now powered by the 952-caliber movement visible through a sapphire case back- in a limited edition of 250 pieces in rose or yellow gold and only 50 in Platinum.

IWC has always had a reputation for complicated watches, and in 1985 produced the Da Vinci, which set a new standard for wrist chronographs.  It had an automatic mechanical perpetual calendar programmed for 514 years without normal adjustments (leap years included)  It had nine hands and four dials and displayed hours, numbers, seconds, elapsed time, and phases of the moon.  Ten years later, it was reintroduced with a split-second chronograph- it now had a tenth hand! 

The Destriero Scafusia was built in a series of just 125 to mark the company's 125th anniversary.  It has a rattapante chronograph mechanism and a mechanically programmed perpetual calendar whose tourbillion and handcrafted decoration are visible through the sapphire case back.  It retailed in Britain for 125,000 pounds.

IWC and Porsche Design have been working together since 1978, and the collaboration has resulted in a collection of super-sleek, all-black, titanium cased models with automatic chronograph movements whose push buttons were totally integrated into the case.  Some even remarkably, incorporated a compass- which is, of course, shockproof and water resistant just like the watch.

Since its early days, IWC has had to fend for itself; removed from the traditional centers, it had to train its own craftsmen- it is one of the few firms licensed to award a certificate as "horloger complet."    Quality is still all-important- so important that it is embodied in the company's philosophy and in the legend inscribed on the back of some of its watches---Probus Scafusia---a pride of workmanship.

Have you already met the Grande Complication Pocket watch from the previous page?   You'd really like to see a watch as fascinating as the Grande Complication.   Indeed if that timepiece didn't exist it would have to be reinvented.  And if it were as large as a pocket watch it would still be as unrivalled as before.  But....who would dare to think the impossible thought- to construct a wrist watch and at the same time the Grande Complication?

Who could justify this quintessence in the art of watch making at the highest mechanical level by reducing the dimensions even further- where already the limits of mechanical feasibility had been reached.   IWC could!

Because if anything is believed unattainable in the art of mechanical time measuring, this is the supreme traditional challenge to IWC watchmakers.  To prove exactly the opposite.  Therefore, no second, no minute, no hour, no year is too much for them.   Especially not in the Grande Complication.  A watch that certainly does not belong in the waistcoat pocket as in the days of yore, but is now made to be worn on the wrist.  Proudly.  

In seven years, the most complex mechanical wristwatch that ever existed in the history of watchmaking was created.  And it is simplicity itself to operate.

The Grande Complication at first glance.

Smaller than its great predecessors, however it does even more justice to the name.  With the Grande Complication from IWC, created specifically for the wrist, it is the same as with any technological masterpiece of the present and for the future: it would not have been conceivable  without the intellectual and mathematical work done by the old masters, who still deserve our deep respect.

This Grande Complication with its 9 hands and 659 mechanical parts could only have been created from its great shining example.  And surpass it with its own weapons so to speak-namely with the complexity of micromechanics.  Now in a more tightly compacted space than ever before.  With the smallest of all the Grandes Complications the highest degree of autonomy of complexity and mechanical progress has been reached.  A great new model has transpired.  And it can now be worn.  On the wrist.  From the movement of your arm it automatically and untiringly draws energy for the display of the precise time in seconds, minutes and hours.    For the display of the date, day of the week, month, year, decades and centuries.   Your chronograph firmly "writes" times up to twelve hours long- and stops it to the accuracy of an eighth of a second.  The mechanically programmed perpetual calendar peers more than 500 years into the future.

The perpetual moon phase is the most precise of al wristwatches.  Two tiny hammers in the completely redeveloped mechanism of the minute repetition strikes the hours, quarters and minutes whenever you feel inclined to listen to them.

Human Ambition for Perfection:

One might be forgiven for thinking that 1 : 6,315,840,000 is a quantity far beyond human comprehension.  But IWC watchmakers calculated this figure as being the exact reduction ratio necessary between the anchor drive cog and the century display.   This means that the balance spring completes more than 25 billion oscillations while the century display advances just once.

This is only one of the countless superlatives that the grande complications carries out by itself.  And despite all this- the construction is the easiest in operation.   It needs none of the previously complicated rectifying adjustments because its mechanical program can manage excellently without outside assistance.  Even the irregularities of our Gregorian calendar do not pull it out of stride.

The enviable generations who will be able to use it will also be dumbfounded by its superb intricacies.  

The IWC craftsmen of the Grande Complication have given very special significance to the most accurate recording of the moons phases.   This is not as easy a matter as it may seem at first glance at the sky.  While the orbital period of the moon round the earth is 27.32505 days (sideral orbital period) the actual time between two full moons is 29.54059 days (synodic orbital period).  Conventional moon phase displays just can't cope with the small figures behind the decimal point.   Which is why they need readjustment every 2 & 1/2 years.  But the moon in the gold sky of the Grande Complication from IWC shows the progress of the Earth satellite with an accuracy never before achieved in a wristwatch.    After all, it will only deviate by one day in 122 years 

What is the Case made of?

The most complex interaction of 659 tiny parts for the motion of 9 displays, the moon phase in the polished gold disc and the repetition gong movement deserve to be assembled in a timeless case, an authentic classic of modern design.  And in the most exclusive material- solid platinum.

But the making of a platinum watch is not as easy as might be thought.  Because to be able to produce the watch case of 124 gram in weight, about 10 tons of ore must be excavated and processed by heavy labor.  The annual output of platinum for watches and jewelry production worldwide is only as large as a cube measuring two by two meters.  The processing of this rarity is taken to a far higher degree of purity than gold.   First of all the case of the Grande Complication is hewn by case-makers out of a platinum block weighing a kilogram, and it undergoes hundreds of skillful operations.  

Finally, the solid back of the case is hand-engraved.  With the individual production number of the edition which is limited to 50 pieces per year.   And signed with the only possible name that a watch of this magnitude could deserve:  Grande Complication.

No ordinary owners manual 

Please remember, this watch took 7 years just to design.  Its no wonder that the owners manual for this watch is a book comprising 7 separate chapters, 240 pages long and also comes with a 20 minute video.   These are the most comprehensive operating instructions ever handed out with a watch.

All IWC-movements have a history and most of them also have a mark. .

People who are familiar with the manufacturer know, that IWC Schaffhausen keeps book of the reference number, the caliber, the case material, the delivery date and the buyer, ever since 1882. However, which marks were used to establish the authenticity of the IWC movement, the books don't tell.  Together with two other IWC collectors I have tried to answer the questions. Together we were able to trace about 1000 pocket watches from Schaffhausen, and thus collected a huge amount of data. What we were looking for was not when IWC registered the marks used - examples for that are found in Richard Meiss' book-, but how effectively the marking was done.  In studying our watches we found the following: that IWC didn't use marks from 1868 till 1883, the begin years of the company. Mostly you will find the name "International Watch Company" on the movements platina. We came to another conclusion: that the founder of the company, Florentine A. Jones immortalized members of his family and American heroes on the movements  plate. Toelke/King give some more details on that in their book about IWC Schaffhausen on page 34.The company name can be found (English italics) on all calibers by Jones (with movement numbers 1 to around 26,000), the Seeland-caliber (circa 26,000-61,000), caliber 28/29 a bascule pilier (100,000 to 120,000) as well as the early calibers 32, 33, 34, 35, 59 and 60 with very low movement numbers like 33, 86 616 or something like 620.In the course of 1884, IWC switched to a complete new numbering and marking. The oldest mark is a flat "I" with the capitals "WC". This was used only on the movements of the digital watches Pallweber I and Pallweber II during 1884 and 1885 (movement numbers 1000 to 6500).With the digital watches Pallweber III a new variety of markings is introduced. In total, three different round markings can be found. These were used from 1885 till 1890 for the movements 6501 to 62,900.

The next mark in line is the Schaffhauser Bock, or the Billy-goat of Schaffhausen. This was used from 1891 till 1895 (movement numbers 63,000 to 102,000), and was replaced by the "JWC" marking in the famous lens. This signature was used from 1895 till 1905 (numbers 102,000 to 350,000).Somewhere onward from movement number 350,000, the most famous marking was introduced: the "Probus Scafusia", which today still marks the authenticity of the IWC caliber.

The IWC in the lens had a brief Renaissance in the observation watches for His Majesty's Forces and the larger pilot's watches, in the calibers 52 and 71 with central seconds hand. Another small change was the straightening of the "J" into an "I", like in the middle of the Probus Scafusia mark.For the sake of completeness it needs to be said that a reasonable number of IWC watches were marked with "S&Co.". S&Co stands for the company Staufer, Son & Co., London, which for decades imported IWC watches for the British Empire.

Ingenieur

Its pre-pre-predecessor was held in high esteem during World War II as the "pilots watch" because of its outstanding reliability.  Its pre-predecessor the "Mark XI" was, until recently, offered in the same version as that supplied to airforce units more than 50 years ago.  Its predecessor, the "Ingenieur" was again and again shown to be the most robust watch for extremely strenuous expeditions.  From this point of view the further evolution of the Ingenieur has long since proved itself- in technology and in design.  And with the up to 80,000 ampere/meter super antimagnetic "Ingenieur SL" the ongoing history of the times is assured. 

Doppelchronograph 

In 1992, after three years' intensive design and development work, IWC launched a time machine that puts you in control at those critical moments when one stopwatch isn't enough but two are unnecessary. Because with the Doppelchronograph from IWC you can keep track of two times at once - such as an overall time and a single lap time, for example. And what exactly is the name of the stopwatch that gives you one-eight of a second mechanical accuracy? Why, the Doppelchronograph from IWC, of course, the watch that's given two-timing a good name.

 At IWC, they have always been ready to devote more time to developing exclusive products for lovers of fine watches in the firm belief that our efforts would be rewarded when we finally emerged ahead of the rest of the field. The Doppelchronograph could be another perfect example, particularly in the history of our pilots watches, with which it seems at first glance to be closely related. A tie that goes all the way back to the legendary "Mark XI". Look twice, however, and it becomes clear that the Doppelchronograph is well on the way to becoming a legend in its own right. Because the person who wears it is likely to end up getting more out of his or her time. Which is why it is equipped with a self-winding 79030 chronograph caliber movement with a 44-hour power reserve. It features push buttons for a number of different functions. Like the two at the 2 and 4 o'clock positions, which handle cumulative timing between an eighth of a second and twelve hours. And has a third button at the 10 o'clock position for all those times in between. We are referring here to the button which controls the split seconds hand, one of mechanical watchmaking's finest achievements. The split-seconds hand starts with the main stopwatch hand but can be stopped while the other continues to run, enabling the user to read off a lap time, for example. Another touch of the button synchronizes the split-seconds hand with the main hand again, and the user can then repeat the procedure, measuring two intermediate times in any one minute.

But stop. Impressive as the watch's unique features may be, we should not allow them to overshadow the traditional characteristics it has inherited from its forebears - particularly since they are so instrumental to the watch's high-flying performance under everyday conditions. The soft iron inner case, for instance, which protects the movement from the ultrahigh magnetic fields - up to 80,000 ampere/meters - often generated in cockpits. Or the solid, contoured sapphire glass, which stays right where it is even in the event of a drop in pressure. The screw-in crown. The patented IWC buttons. All of which gives it a head for heights. And makes it water resistant to 50m. At 42mm in diameter and 16.5mm thick, it is hardly one of watch making's triumphs in miniature. On the other hand, there is room for the word "Der Doppelchronograph von IWC" on the back of the case. Which means you even have it in writing.

Fliegerchronograph

The physical resemblance IWC's Fliegerchronograph bears to its predecessors is written all over its face, but less obvious perhaps is the fact that it's also inherited a number of basic character traits. Such as an antipathy towards magnetic fields, which, thanks to an additional inner case of ferromagnetic soft iron, are prevented from affecting the movement, just like the large pilot's watch and the "Mark XI" in their own time. 

But it also represents the start of a new age in the history of chronographs. And has put a new generation on course for a new world record: It is the smallest in the world with analogue display. The diameter is 23.30 mm, height 3.70 mm. So that time can be measured in so many ways, it took: 27 wheels and gears, 26 springs, cams or levers, 25 rubies, 7 bridges, 32 screws - a total of 233 individual parts and countless ideas.

 The idea, for instance, of how to master all functions with only two step-motors: time display in hours, minutes and seconds. Date display with fast correction. Stop-second display ( accurate to 1/4 seconds ), minutes counter ( to 3 minutes ) and hour counter ( to 12 hours ) including incremental time counting. All simply operated by means of push buttons above and below the crown. The two quartz-controlled watch and chronograph movements are shock-resistant at several thousands of meters above the earth and up to 50 meters underwater.

Da Vinci Chronograph

 The little Da Vinci chronograph with perpetual moon phase display, in 18ct. gold with crocodile leather wristband and solid gold clasp. Screw-in crown. Water-resistant to 30 meters. Sapphire glass ( hardness coefficient 9 ).

The little Da Vinci chronograph with perpetual moon phase display from IWC:

Yet another great work from a group of old master. The life and work of the small Da Vinci live up to the honor of the name in every respect. For it has almost all the features that distinguish the Da Vinci itself. It displays the time in seconds, minutes and hours. And the date. And knows exactly what phase the moon is in. And will continue to do so for the next 122 years, accurate to the day. The stopwatch measures times of up to several hours to an accuracy of 1/4 second. All this with quartz precision. Ladies and gentlemen who appreciate the little Da Vinci for its size are not likely to miss a perpetual calendar.