Fine Swiss 18K gold and enamel hunting cased lever Circa 1990
- Kenmerk
- CH1965
- Diameter
- 50 mm
- Estimate
- € 7.500 - 15.000
- Price sold
- € 13.200
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A fine Swiss 18 carat gold and enamel hunting cased keyless lever pocket watch, circa 1990. The glazed gilt finished lever movement with 19 jewels. White enamel dial with Roman numerals and subsidiary seconds. A case with foliate engraved bezels, the front cover and hinged case back with polychrome enamel scenes, the Castle Munot and the Rhine on the front, the back with the Rhine Falls. Dial signed, case and movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 50 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. 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.
Signed: International Watch Co Schaffhausen
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