We Buy & Sell Second Hand Watches

IWC

By visiting our IWC Catalogue you can see the models that we have currently in stock. The current IWC collection includes:

IWC Aquatimer Automatic, IWC Aquatimer Automatic 2000, IWC Aquatimer Chrono Automatic, IWC Aquatimer Split Minute Chrono, IWC Big Ingenieur, IWC Big Pilots Watch, IWC Da Vinci Automatic, IWC Da Vinci Chronograph, IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calender, IWC Da Vinci Small, IWC Ingenieur Automatic, IWC Ingenieur Chronograph, IWC Pilot Spitfire UTC, IWC Pilots Chrono Automatic, IWC Pilots Mark XVI, IWC Pilots Midsize, IWC Pilots Spitfire Chrono-Automatic, IWC Pilots Spitfire Double Chronograph, IWC Pilots Watch Double Chronograph, IWC Portofino Automatic, IWC Portofino Automatic Midsize, IWC Portofino Chronograph, IWC Portofino Manual Winding, IWC Portuguese Automatic, IWC Portuguese Chronograph, IWC Portuguese Regulateur, IWC Portugueser Split-Seconds Chrono and many more...

History of IWC

In 1868, the American engineer and watchmaker, Florentine Ariosto Jones was director of F.Howard & Cie, In Boston, America's leading watch making company. He traveled across the Atlantic to Switzerland, where his plan was to found the International Watch Company with the aim to manufacture movements and watch parts for the American market. However he had failed to take into account that the workers in the Geneva region and the remote valleys of the Jura Mountains feared for their jobs and were against Jones' intrusion.

It was probably around this point that Jones met watch manufacturer and industrialist Johann Heinrich Moser who manufactured pocket watches for the Russian tsars. Moser was an industrial pioneer and had recently finished building a hydrostation in Schaffhausen powered by water from the Rhine. Moser showed a great interest in Jones' plans and so the foundations were set for the first and only watch manufacturers in north-eastern Switzerland: the IWC INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. in Schaffhausen.

Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel, Chief Executive Officer and a machine manufacturer from Schaffhausen, took over the INTERNATIONALE UHRENFABRIK on 17 February 1880. This change marked the beginning of the story of INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO., which would last almost one hundred years and four generations, a family-owned company that would be known under various names.

Just one year after the sale, Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel died. However his son Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk took over control and ran it successfully until his own death on 2 March 1905.

Another significant person in the company history was Urs Haenggi from Nunningen in the canton of Solothurn. In 1883 he joined IWC and stayed with the company for 52 years. He got factory operations up and running smoothly and acquired new customers. He was also responsible for warding off the danger of the factory passing into other hands "in the interest of the noble Rauschenbach family" Technician Johann Vogel from Wangen on the Aare in Solothurn likewise played an important role as technical director. He designed and developed IWC calibres until 1919.

In 1885 IWC produced its first digital watch based on a patent owned by an Austrian by the name of Pallweber. The design by Pallweber was very simple with a tiny window for the hours and minutes. Nowadays these watches are extremely rare and sought after collector's items.

After the Second World War, the markets of Eastern Europe were lost due to the descent of the Iron Curtain. Germany was also deemed to be a lost market as it was in ruins and needed time to revive. Other markets such as America, the Far East and Australia were looked at and established. The late 1940s saw a global economic revival, which saw the Swiss watch industry flourish.

1940 saw another milestone in the history of pilot watches with the introduction of the Big Pilot's Watch with a 52 S.C. calibre pocket watch movement. In 2002 the modern version was launched and has proved extremely popular.

1969 saw IWC present its first quartz wristwatch. The Da Vinci quartz watch was fitted with a Beta 21 calibre movement. However competition from Japan saw the Swiss watch industry fall into a crisis. IWC avoided heavy investment in this technology and went back to produce what it was best at - mechanical movements.

In 1978, IWC introduced the world's first titanium watchcase and bracelet, which at the time was thought impossible because of the difficulty of working with titanium which required an oxygen-free environment. Today, IWC manufacturers the world's most sophisticated bracelet system, which requires neither screws nor pin and bushings to hold the bracelet together. Instead a solid pin is held in each bracelet link by a push-button lock on the underside of each bracelet link - allowing the pin to be totally locked in regardless of any damage that would normally dislodge traditional pin systems. Together with other fanciful mechanical gadgets like mechanical depth gauges, 7 day power reserve automatic movements, and deep-sea (2000 metres water resistant) resistant turning crowns for internal bezels, makes IWC truly a watch manufacturer for the future yet hand-in-hand with traditional hand craftsmanship.

Today, IWC is most famous for its Flieger line of watches (Pilot in German) whose design date back to World War 2 and the Portugieser line of watches. They have approximately 390 employees and since 2000 IWC have belonged to the watch division of Richemont SA.

IWC TIMELINE

1882: Elgin movement developed.

1885: The first IWC digital watch (Pallweber).

1887: Manufacture of the Magique. It has 24-hour display that can be used as a hunter or open face watch.

1915: IWC designs and launches its first wristwatch featuring the 75 calibre movement.

1936: Special Pilot's Watch launched. Featuring a rotating bezel with an arrow index that is used to register the take off times.

1939: Birth of the Portugieser. Two Portuguese importers order a series of large wristwatches with high precision pocket watch movements.

1940: IWC develops the Big Pilot's Watch 52 S.C. with its central seconds hands.

1944: IWC's first W.W.W. This stands for "Watch, Wrist, Waterproof" for military use by the British Army.

1946: Pellaton's first design, the 89 calibre movement, has central seconds hand and boasts outstanding accuracy.

1948: Appearance of the Mark 11 pilot's watch from IWC with the 89 calibre movement. The soft iron inner case provides high protection against magnetic fields.

1950: The 85 calibre, designed by Albert Pellaton, features IWC's first automatic winding movement.

1954: Introduction of the Ingenieur with an automatic movement.

1959: Design of the 44 calibre. IWC's first automatic movement for women.

1967: Aquatimer introduced. A professional divers watch water resistant to 200m.

1969: IWC helps develop of the Beta 21 quartz movement. The first wristwatch calibre with quartz control.

1970: The first wristwatch to feature the Beta 21 quartz movement - the Da Vinci.

1976: Ingenieur SL with a patented snail precision adjustment on the balance arms makes its debut.

1977: The 9721 calibre is unveiled. The first pocket watch from IWC with a calendar and moon phase display.

1978: The first wristwatch with a built in compass produced in cooperation with designer F.A. Porsche.

1980: The world's first chronograph watch in a titanium case is produced. F.A. Porsche designs it.

1982: Ocean 2000 divers watch introduced. Made of titanium, this rugged divers watch is water resistant to 2000 m.

1985: The Da Vinci from IWC is the first chronograph with a perpetual calendar programmed for the next 500 years. It has the most accurate moon phase display ever as well as a four digit display showing the year in full.

1986: Zirconium Oxide, a scratch resistant ceramic material is used by IWC as a new case material.

1987: IWC presents the first rectangular, water resistant, automatic watch with a perpetual calendar - the Novecento.

1990: Launch of the world's first wristwatch size Grande Complication. Seven years in its development the watch comes with a chronograph, minute repeater, moon phase display and perpetual calendar.

1993: To mark the 125th anniversary of IWC, the company produced the world's most complicated mechanical watch in a one off limited edition of 125 The Il Destriero Scafusia features several complications including a tourbillon, split seconds, chronograph, minute repeater and perpetual calendar.

1994: The Mark XII Pilot's watch continues the legend of the Mark 11.

1995: To mark the 10th anniversary of the Da Vinci, the watch appears as a split-seconds chronograph with a tenth hand. Another new model is the Portuguese Chrono Rattapante. The third new product is the Portuguese Minute Repeater.

1997: The new GST sports watch makes its debut.

1998: IWC launch the UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) pilot's watch with an hour hand that can be adjusted in hourly steps together with a 24-hour display.

1999: The GST Deep One is the first watch with a mechanical depth gauge.

2000: IWC develop the company's own movement for large wristwatches. The extra large 5000-calibre movement runs for 7 days and features a power reserve display with a Pellaton automatic winding system. IWC is taken over by Richemont.

2002: IWC presents the Big Pilot's Watch with its 7 day automatic movement, date and power reserve display.

2003: The Portuguese Perpetual Calendar with its newly designed perpetual calendar and exclusive dual hemisphere moon phase display maintains IWC's tradition of innovation. The new range of Spitfire pilot's watch is launched.

2004: The Aquatimer range of watches is launched. The Portuguese family is extended to include the Portuguese Tourbillon Mystere, the Portuguese Minute Repeater Squelette and the Portuguese Automatic. New models are also added to the Da Vinci and Portofino lines.

2005: IWC produce 10 world premieres in a year. New additions to the Portuguese, Da Vinci range and a comeback for the Ingenieur.