Rare Swiss silver limited edition complicated lever watch Circa 1885

Silver oversized keyless calendar watch by IWC
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An oversized Swiss silver open faced limited edition keyless pocket watch with a full calendar, circa 1880-1890. The hand engraved, jewelled, rhodium plated movement with a lever escapement. White enamel dial with Roman hours,  an outer minute track, an aperture for the moon phases at 12 o’clock, the date at 3 o’clock, the months of the year at 6 o’clock and the days of the week at 9 o’clock, black moon hands. A polished case.
Dial signed, case and movement numbered.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 151 g
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Signed: International Watch Co Schaffhausen Swiss
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This timepiece is a limited edition and is numbered.
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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.