Fine Swiss 14 carat gold open faced keyless lever Circa 1925

Gold lever watch by International Watch Company
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A fine and rare Swiss 14 carat gold open faced keyless lever pocket watch, circa 1925. Lever movement. Gilt dial with Breguet numerals, outer minute divisions and 24-hour markers, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock, Breguet hands. Plain case. Comes with a fitted presentation box and certificate. Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 48 mm
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Thickness: 8.7 mm
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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, 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 Swiss craftsmanship 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-eastern Switzerland: the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen.