Swiss gold hunting cased digital keyless Pallweber watch Circa 1900

Gold digital Pallweber watch by International Watch Co.
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A Swiss 14 carat gold hunting cased digital keyless lever Pallweber pocket watch, circa 1900. The type III Pallweber movement is stamped IWC and features a gilded lever, bimetallic compensated balance and forked bridge. It includes a white enamel dial with two vertical apertures for jumping hours and minutes, small subsidiary seconds below and signed International Watch Co. The engine turned case has an engraved vacant cartouche on the front. The case and gold cuvette are numbered.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Signed: International Watch Co.
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The case has overall minor dents, with deeper ones in certain areas on the band. The bezel is detached. There is a hairline crack at the top of the dial, extending from the outer edge to the hour markers and text. The watch ticks and the hours advance when wound.
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Josef Pallweber was an Austrian engineer from Salzburg. His registered residence changed several times within the German Empire, from Furtwangen via Frankfurt am Main to Mannheim. The company name, Josef Pallweber & Sohn, was also known in Austria. He is considered the inventor of watches with jumping numerals, also called Pallweber watches, for which he filed a patent in Salzburg in 1883 at age 25.

Pallweber invented the digital time display showing jump hours and minutes for pocket watches with numbers on rotating discs next to the classic hands. Digits indicating the correct hour and minutes were revealed through two apertures on the dial, the seconds were still shown through a small hand on a subsidiary dial.

In the late 19th century, many watch manufacturers had the so-called jump hour watches in their range, among them renowned makers such as A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte, Germany. However, one of the most prolific producers of this type of watch was the International Watch Company Schaffhausen (IWC).

IWC brought digital pocket watches to the market based on Pallweber’s patent from approximately 1885 to 1887. Within their production, IWC improved the Pallweber construction twice through small changes in the gears, hence the designations Pallweber I, Pallweber II and Pallweber III. The company produced around 20.000 Pallweber pocket watches. Reportedly, 14.940 examples were made as the calibre 42, Pallweber III. After this successful period, which helped to establish IWC as a serious brand, the interest in these watches waned at the beginning of the 20th century. To mark the 150th anniversary of IWC, the ‘Tribute to Pallweber’ edition was released in 2018. A wristwatch made in limited numbers and priced from $ 30.000.

After granting the license to IWC, Josef Pallweber subsequently granted his mechanism to display the time in a digital format to other Swiss watch companies, such as Cortébert and Gédéon Thommen, for the French and Belgian markets.

In 2010, the trademark rights of the name Josef Pallweber were acquired by the Swiss Marc Baltensweiler, who presented clearly and succinctly designed models with jumping hours under the motto ‘Time to be different’.