Swiss 18 Carat rose gold hunting cased lever watch Circa 1890

Rose gold full hunter by IWC
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An exquisite Swiss 18 Carat rose gold hunting cased lever pocket watch, circa 1890. Made for D.H. Craig, New York. ½ Plate movement, lever escapement, rare Jones calibre with Elsons Patent, temperature compensation for balance spring, gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions and sunk subsidiary seconds at six o’clock. Plain case, reeded band and bezels.
Dial signed, case and movement numbered, movement inscribed D.H. Craig New York.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Weight: 117 g
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Signed: International Watch Co
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International Watch Company Schaffhausen (IWC) was founded in 1868 by Florentine Ariosto Jones (1841–1916), an American engineer and watchmaker from Boston, Massachusetts, who had been a director of E. Howard & Co, Boston, America’s leading watchmaking company at the time. He established the company with the intention of combining modern engineering technology from the U.S. with the craftsmanship of the Swiss to manufacture high-quality watches exclusively for the American market. Then, wages in Switzerland were relatively low although there was a ready supply of skilled watchmaking labour mainly carried out by people in their homes. Jones encountered opposition to his plans in French-speaking Switzerland. People feared for their jobs and the work they did at home because he wanted to open a factory. In 1850 the town of Schaffhausen was in danger of being left behind in the Industrial Age. At this stage, watch manufacturer and industrialist Johann Heinrich Moser built Schaffhausen’s first hydroelectric plant and laid the cornerstone for future industrialization. He probably met Jones in Le Locle and showed great interest in his plans. Together, they laid the foundations for the only watch manufacturer in north east Switzerland: the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen.