Swiss rose gold hunting cased lever pocket watch Circa 1905

Rose gold full hunter by IWC
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A Swiss 14 carat rose gold hunting cased lever pocket watch, circa 1905. The movement with a lever escapement and compensation balance with screws and Breguet spring, three jewel bearings set in chaton and screwed. A gold plated cuvette with an engraved dedication. White enamel dial with Arabic hours, outer minute divisions, sunk subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and gold Louis XIV hands. The engine turned case with polished bezels and a decorative blank cartouche on the front. Case and movement numbered.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Weight: 100 g
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Signed: International Watch Co Schaffhausen
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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.