ICW the watches for men and women.
International Watch Co, also known as IWC, ...
in 1868, an American by the name of Florentine Ariosto Jones made the brave decision to found a watch factory in Switzerland from where he planned to supply the USA with movements. Switzerland was a low-wage country back then and had a ready supply of skilled labour for the watchmaking industry (mainly manual work carried out by people working from their homes). In French-speaking Switzerland Jones met with fierce resistance because people feared for their jobs and the work they did at home.
In 1850 the town of Schaffhausen was in grave danger of missing the bus to the Industrial Age. It was at this stage that watch manufacturer and industrialist Johann Heinrich Moser stepped in and did the region a huge service. As a pioneer of "white coal", he built Schaffhausen's first hydroelectric plant and laid the cornerstone for future industrialization. He probably met F.A. Jones in Le Locle and showed a great interest in his plans. And so it was that the foundations were laid for the first and only watch manufacturers in north-eastern Switzerland: the INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. in Schaffhausen.
In the 1970s and 80s, the Swiss watchmaking industry underwent a phase of far-reaching technological change. Following in the wake of the use of miniaturized electric batteries as a source of energy for wristwatches from the late 1940s onwards and the invention of the transistor in 1947, purely mechanical watch technology developed into a hybrid discipline of precision mechanics and electronics.
IWC managed to avoid investing heavily in expensive and eventually unsuccessful technologies, such as the electronically controlled balance. The UHRENFABRIK H. E. HOMBERGER co-founded and was a shareholder in the "Centre Électronique Horloger" (CEH) in Neuchâtel and was financially involved in the development of the Beta 21 quartz wristwatch movement, which was first presented to the public at the 1969 Industrial Fair in Basel. In actual value terms, this movement accounted for about 5-6% of total sales of quartz watches. Parallel to this, the company expanded its collection of jeweler watches to include ladies watches with mechanical movements. The year 1973 was IWC's most successful of the post-war period.
The cataclysmic rise in gold prices in 1974 had grave consequences for the watch exporting industry. Between 1970 and 1974 the price of gold rose from 4850 to 18 000 francs and the value of the dollar against the Swiss currency plummeted by up to 40%. As a result, the price of watch exports rose by as much as 250%. At the same time Japan was flooding the market with cheap quartz watches.
A change of direction was necessary and this led to the adoption of a number of measures. In order to survive, IWC, under the leadership of Director and CEO Otto Heller, built up a line of high-quality pocket watches, and, apart from setting up its own modern wristwatch and case manufacturing facilities, began working closely with Ferdinand A. Porsche as an external designer. In addition, IWC pioneered new watchmaking technologies, notably the first titanium bracelets, developed in 1978.
For its new plans IWC required a high level of venture capital. With the help of the Swiss Banking Corporation, the company was put in contact with VDO Adolf Schindling AG, which took a majority interest in IWC in 1978.
At the same time, IWC reacquired the name it had originally been given by its founder F.A. Jones (INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. AG).
In 1981, Kawal Singh succeeded H.E. Homberger as general manager following the latter's retirement on age grounds. The new director, Günter Blümlein, pushed for rapid implementation of planned changes, put the existing advertising campaign to work, built up the customer base, and solidified IWC's finances.
In 1991 IWC director Günter Blümlein founded the LMH Group with its headquarters in Schaffhausen. With a 100% stake in IWC, 60% in Jaeger-LeCoultre and 90% in the Saxony-based watchmaking company of A. Lange & Söhne, the Group employed some 1440 persons.
In July 2000, LMH was acquired by Richemont, a Zug-based luxury goods group, for CHF 2.8 bn. Despite the takeover by Richemont, IWC was guaranteed that it would continue to be managed by the same executives from the LMH Group.
In the year 2001 IWC went online with the Collectors Forum.
2008 : 140 years have elapsed since the engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones from Boston turned his back on America to make his fortune in Switzerland. In 1868, he founded the International Watch Co. in Schaffhausen to supply the American market with high-quality movements. F.A. Jones began with simple, but perfect pocket watches, and IWC today has mastery over all the variant forms and degrees of complexity of Haute Horlogerie and is regarded as the premier address when it comes to horological engineering.
International Watch Co, also known as IWC, ...
in 1868, an American by the name of Florentine Ariosto Jones made the brave decision to found a watch factory in Switzerland from where he planned to supply the USA with movements. Switzerland was a low-wage country back then and had a ready supply of skilled labour for the watchmaking industry (mainly manual work carried out by people working from their homes). In French-speaking Switzerland Jones met with fierce resistance because people feared for their jobs and the work they did at home.In 1850 the town of Schaffhausen was in grave danger of missing the bus to the Industrial Age. It was at this stage that watch manufacturer and industrialist Johann Heinrich Moser stepped in and did the region a huge service. As a pioneer of "white coal", he built Schaffhausen's first hydroelectric plant and laid the cornerstone for future industrialization. He probably met F.A. Jones in Le Locle and showed a great interest in his plans. And so it was that the foundations were laid for the first and only watch manufacturers in north-eastern Switzerland: the INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. in Schaffhausen.
In the 1970s and 80s, the Swiss watchmaking industry underwent a phase of far-reaching technological change. Following in the wake of the use of miniaturized electric batteries as a source of energy for wristwatches from the late 1940s onwards and the invention of the transistor in 1947, purely mechanical watch technology developed into a hybrid discipline of precision mechanics and electronics.
IWC managed to avoid investing heavily in expensive and eventually unsuccessful technologies, such as the electronically controlled balance. The UHRENFABRIK H. E. HOMBERGER co-founded and was a shareholder in the "Centre Électronique Horloger" (CEH) in Neuchâtel and was financially involved in the development of the Beta 21 quartz wristwatch movement, which was first presented to the public at the 1969 Industrial Fair in Basel. In actual value terms, this movement accounted for about 5-6% of total sales of quartz watches. Parallel to this, the company expanded its collection of jeweler watches to include ladies watches with mechanical movements. The year 1973 was IWC's most successful of the post-war period.
The cataclysmic rise in gold prices in 1974 had grave consequences for the watch exporting industry. Between 1970 and 1974 the price of gold rose from 4850 to 18 000 francs and the value of the dollar against the Swiss currency plummeted by up to 40%. As a result, the price of watch exports rose by as much as 250%. At the same time Japan was flooding the market with cheap quartz watches.
A change of direction was necessary and this led to the adoption of a number of measures. In order to survive, IWC, under the leadership of Director and CEO Otto Heller, built up a line of high-quality pocket watches, and, apart from setting up its own modern wristwatch and case manufacturing facilities, began working closely with Ferdinand A. Porsche as an external designer. In addition, IWC pioneered new watchmaking technologies, notably the first titanium bracelets, developed in 1978.
For its new plans IWC required a high level of venture capital. With the help of the Swiss Banking Corporation, the company was put in contact with VDO Adolf Schindling AG, which took a majority interest in IWC in 1978.
At the same time, IWC reacquired the name it had originally been given by its founder F.A. Jones (INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. AG).
In 1981, Kawal Singh succeeded H.E. Homberger as general manager following the latter's retirement on age grounds. The new director, Günter Blümlein, pushed for rapid implementation of planned changes, put the existing advertising campaign to work, built up the customer base, and solidified IWC's finances.
In 1991 IWC director Günter Blümlein founded the LMH Group with its headquarters in Schaffhausen. With a 100% stake in IWC, 60% in Jaeger-LeCoultre and 90% in the Saxony-based watchmaking company of A. Lange & Söhne, the Group employed some 1440 persons.
In July 2000, LMH was acquired by Richemont, a Zug-based luxury goods group, for CHF 2.8 bn. Despite the takeover by Richemont, IWC was guaranteed that it would continue to be managed by the same executives from the LMH Group.
In the year 2001 IWC went online with the Collectors Forum.
2008 : 140 years have elapsed since the engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones from Boston turned his back on America to make his fortune in Switzerland. In 1868, he founded the International Watch Co. in Schaffhausen to supply the American market with high-quality movements. F.A. Jones began with simple, but perfect pocket watches, and IWC today has mastery over all the variant forms and degrees of complexity of Haute Horlogerie and is regarded as the premier address when it comes to horological engineering.
