IWC Schaffhausen Watches

IWC - Pioneers in Precision

Founded in 1868 by American engineer and watchmaker, Florentine Ariosto Jones, IWC is one of the world’s most renowned manufacturers of precision focused and complex timepieces. The founder set out to combine the quality of Swiss watchmaking with the modern technologies being used throughout the West, forming the iconic foundation that we know today.

Having based itself on the banks of the River Rhine in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen, the company began producing high quality pocket watches, which it sold to the American market. Just some years later, through its commitments to quality, precision and innovation, IWC became the first to produce pocket watches with digital hours and minutes, using the Pallweber system.

This innovative spirit was the driving force behind one of the first known wristwatches, which featured a pocket watch movement housed inside a small metal case with lugs for the bracelet. In the early 1900s, the brand made more significant moves within the wristwatch market, as two of IWC’s most iconic watch families were launched: the Pilot and Portugieser.

But as modern day life became more saturated with technology, many experienced issues with the accuracy of their watches. The brand’s innovative spirit was hailed once again, when new and improved calibres and the introduction of a soft-iron inner case helped protect watch movements against magnetic fields.

The brand’s commitment to innovation did not slow after this, welcoming other now-iconic watch lines, including the Aquatimer and Da Vinci. The latter was also the first IWC watch to be fitted with the Beta 21 calibre, the first Swiss-made quartz movement. This release came at a time when quartz movements from Asia were sweeping the market, offering customers more affordable timepieces. It was IWC’s focus on watchmaking art that set them apart and offered a means for survival. With innovations such as titanium and zirconium oxide cases, as well as the introduction of the first Grand Complications watch, the brand reached the pinnacle of haute horlogerie.

Today, IWC has just six watch families, which it continues to develop and diversify.