Swiss 14K yellow and white gold square pocket watch Circa 1925

Gold square chronometer watch
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A Swiss 14K yellow and white gold, enamel and Art Deco square pocket watch, circa 1925. A polished square case, chased and engraved floral decoration on a black enamel background. Two-tone yellow gold dial with Arabic gold hours, outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds and gold spade hands. Chronometer escapement. Dial signed, movement signed.
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Diameter: 44 mm
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Thickness: 9 mm
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Signed: International Watch Co. Genève
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International Watch Company (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, Boston, America’s leading watchmaking company at the time. He established the company 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.
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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 Jones in Le Locle and showed great interest in his plans. Together, they laid the foundations for the only watch manufacturer in north-eastern Switzerland: the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen.