Gold Swiss open faced keyless IWC pocket watch Circa 1900

Gold openfaced keyless IWC watch
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A yellow gold Swiss open faced keyless watch, circa 1900, jeweled manual winding nickel finished lever movement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, engraved 18 Carat yellow gold cuvette. White enamel dial, painted Arabic numerals. 18 Carat Yellow gold case, hinged snap on engraved back with monogram AV, case, dial and cuvette signed
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Diameter: 48 mm
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Signed: International Watch Co
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In 1868, an American engineer and watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones (1841–1916) who had been a director of E. Howard and Co., in Boston, then America’s leading watchmaking company, founded the International Watch Company with the intention of combining the craftsmanship of the Swiss with modern engineering technology from the U.S. to manufacture movements and watch parts for the American market.”At the time, wages in Switzerland were relatively low although there was a ready supply of skilled watchmaking labor mainly carried out by people in their homes. Jones encountered opposition to his plans in French-speaking Switzerland because people feared for their jobs” and the work they did at home because Jones 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 F.A. Jones in Le Locle and showed great interest in his plans. Together, they laid the foundations for the only watch manufacturers in north east Switzerland: The International Watch Company in Schaffhausen.