Heavy Swiss 18 Carat gold complicated lever pocket watch Circa 1985

Gold complicated full hunter by International Watch Co
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A heavy Swiss 18 Carat gold hunting cased lever pocket watch with a full calendar, moon phases and ages of the moon, circa 1985. A limited edition No. 144 of 250. Glazed, lavishly florally engraved bridge movement, lever escapement, Glucydur screw balance. White enamel dial with outer Roman hours, inner track with Arabic five minute numerals, an aperture for the moon phases at 12 o’clock, days of the week at 9 o’clock, the date at 3 o’clock and subsidiary seconds combined with the months at 6 o’clock. Plain case. Dial signed, case numbered. Comes with the original wooden presentation box and a certificate.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Weight: 282 g
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Signed: International Watch Co Schaffhausen Swiss
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Reference No. 5450.
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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.