Swiss 14K rose gold open faced lever pocket watch Circa 1905

Rose gold lever watch by IWC 
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A Swiss 14 carat rose gold open faced lever pocket watch, circa 1900-1910. The movement with a lever escapement. White enamel dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions, sunk subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and rose gold spade hands. An engine turned case back, polished bezels, pendant and bow, and an engraving on the inside of the front cover. Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Weight: 119 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.