The IWC watch is the brainchild of an
ambitious American and a Swiss industrialist. Since their beginning in 1868,
the company has focused on creating new standards in time-keeping technology and design.
 Their
first pocket watches were characterized by a wealth of advanced technical features —
many of which are still used in pocket watches today. By 1898, the company had begun to
adapt smaller versions of its pocket watch movements to wristwatches and introduced its
first designed wristwatch in 1900. Over the years, IWC has launched a series of watch collections widely regarded as some of the finest time-keeping instruments the world has ever seen. Prized by collectors and connoisseurs, each IWC watch is engraved with a unique number and calibre type. Its reference number, calibre, material, case number, delivery date, purchaser or dealer name is then recorded for posterity in ledgers kept at the company’s headquarters in Schaffhausen. An IWC watch can be traced back to their original owners. Also at headquarters is the “Pharmacy” where IWC keeps, catalogued and sorted, a minimum 30 years inventory of parts for its distinctive watch collections. In one hallowed corner is the “shrine,” comprised of tall chests with multiple drawers holding rare parts for vintage IWC watches, some dating back as far as 1886. The most famous IWC watch is the “Portuguese” watch, originally commissioned in 1930 by two Portuguese businessmen. IWC’s challenge was to craft a wristwatch with a stainless steel case that possessed all the qualities of a marine chronometer. Today, the “Portuguese” watch is one of IWC’s cornerstone collections, available in a split-second chronograph in rose gold, steel and platinum. The first Portuguese automatic was launched in 1996. But the Portuguese was not the only break-through design in the IWC watch stable. IWC is also well known for the quality design, precision movements, manufacturing excellence and watchmaking innovation of its Grande Complication, DaVinci, Novecento, Portofino, Ingenieur, Pilots Watches (the Mark series), and GST collections. |