Swiss silver watch with digital time indication Circa 1890

Silver Pallweber pocket watch by International Watch Co.
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A rare Swiss silver open faced gentleman’s pocket watch with digital time indication after Pallweber’s patented system, circa 1890. This rare watch has a polished silver case. A white enamel dial with a window for the hours and minutes, the auxiliary seconds below, signed Pat. Febr. 24. 1885. A frosted gilt bridge movement with a Pallweber jumping numerals mechanism and compensation balance. The cuvette is signed.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Weight: 104 g
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Signed: Automatic W. Co. Registered
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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’.
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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.