International Watch Company

The IWC International Watch Co. AG is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer. Based in Schaffhausen company is since 2000 the Swiss luxury goods group Richemont and employs around 650 people.

The watches offer, among other functions, such as power reserve, moon phase, minute repeater, tourbillon and a perpetual calendar.

History

IWC was founded in 1868 by the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones ( 1841-1916 ).

1856 Jones worked as a watchmaker in Boston. Jones made ​​the decision to manufacture high-quality watches for the American market in Switzerland. Switzerland was, in his view, a particularly attractive location because there were qualified watchmaker available and the wage level below that of the U.S.. In 1875 the IWC employed 196 employees.

1874, the IWC was converted into a public limited company. However, the company was founded and especially the purchase of machinery and the construction of a new building for production in 1875 devoured more money than planned, so Jones resigned as CEO and went back to the USA. Even his successor Fred Zealand was not able to lead the IWC in the black. The economic crisis in Europe and the high import duties in the United States had a negative impact on the business of the IWC.. Zealand left the company in 1879 after two American CEO had the IWC directed, bought the Schaffhausen Industrial Johannes Rauschenbach - Vogel (1815 - 1881). , The IWC in 1879 under his leadership and later under his son Johannes Rauschenbach -Schenk (1856 -1905 ) succeeded in the following decades of economic breakthrough.

While because of the quartz watches boom of the 1970s and 1980s were lost market share, followed under Gunter Blumlein an economic success by specializing the company back on classical mechanical complications.

For the image campaign ( " Almost as complicated as a woman. , But on time. " ) The Swiss EFFIE won the Zurich advertising agency Wirz 2001.

Pellaton automatic

A technical specialty is the design of the automatic movement of " Albert pellaton " with an eccentric and two large handles dar. IWC has this automatic used in the series of the series " 85 caliber ". By movements of the wearer of the clock leads from the semi-circular rotor movement and thus moves a rocker which is designed with two rolls and Rubin two large handles. The movement of the rocker pull the two latches on the wheels connected to the innerspring.

Collections

  • IWC Vintage Collection
  • Grande Complication
  • Portuguese
  • Da Vinci
  • Aquatimer
  • Engineer
  • Pilot's Watches Classics
  • Pilot's Watches Spitfire
  • Portofino

IWC Watch Museum

The in-house clock museum, which opened in June 2007 in Schaffhausen, over 230 selected exhibits from the IWC collections are exhibited in past decades. The watch collection stretches from the first IWC pocket watches with the caliber Jones, pocket watches with digital display, richly decorated tailcoat and ladies watches as well as the earliest IWC watches to the watches of more recent times. Thanks to a modern and extravagant space and lighting concept watches are presented from the more than 140 years, IWC collection. The exhibition is complemented by the multimedia presentation for the company's history.

Types of business entity Manufacture d'horlogerie Superior good Repeater (horology) Effie Award Eccentric (mechanism)
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