Thin Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased lever watch Circa 1946

Gold full hunter
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A fine and thin Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased lever pocket watch, Probus Scafusia, circa 1946. Bridge movement, a club tooth lever escapement and Glucydur screw balance. Silvered dial with hour baton indexes, outer minute dots and subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. The plain case with an engraved monogram on the front. Dial signed, case and movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 48 mm
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Weight: 80 g
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Signed: International Watch Co Schaffhausen Swiss
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IWC’s motto is Probus Scafusia, a Latin phrase meaning ‘good, solid craftsmanship from Schaffhausen’. The motto was established in 1903.
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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 north east Switzerland: the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen.