Swiss 18K gold Art Deco watch for the American market Circa 1925

Gold and black enamel dress watch
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A very fine Art Deco dress watch made for F.H. Cutler & Co. in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, U.S.A. by the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, circa 1925. The numbered open faced case of this watch, which was crafted from 18 carat gold, has black enamelled rims and a monogram on the back lid. The silvered Breguet dial has gold applied Arabic hour numerals, outer minute dots, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock and Art Deco hands. The numbered movement has an IWC precision lever escapement, 21 jewels and a fine adjusting device.
Dial signed International Swiss and movement signed International Watch Co Switzerland.
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Diameter: 45 mm
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Weight: 60 g
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Signed: International Watch Co Switzerland
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The watch presented here, a very rare IWC dress watch, was made in Switzerland and intended for the American market. This can be told by the signature “International” on the dial.
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IWC
International Watch Company Schaffhausen 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.