Swiss 18K rose gold half hunting cased lever watch Circa 1890

Rose gold half hunter by International Watch Company
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A rare Swiss 18 carat rose gold half hunting cased lever pocket watch, circa 1890. Sold to Magnier in Naples, Italy on August 25, 1890. ¾ Plate movement, a piston tooth lever escapement and screw compensation balance. A gold cuvette engraved Half Chronometer. White enamel dial with Roman hours, an outer minute track, sunk subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and spade hands. The plain case with radial inlaid black enamel Roman hours and minute divisions on the front. Movement signed and numbered, case numbered. Accompanied by a mahogany box with embedded ivory shield and an Extract from the Archives.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Weight: 95 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. in Boston, America’s leading watchmaking company at the time. He established the company intending to combine 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, 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 laying 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 northeast Switzerland: the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen.