The days of cheap Swiss labor are long gone, but in 1868, Florentine Ariosto
Jones—the then director of F. Howard Watch & Cie, a Boston watchmaker—saw an
opportunity. After establishing a sales organization in New York and a brand
name—International Watch Company—Jones set up shop in Schaffhausen, Switzerland,
where craftsmen produced timepieces for comparatively low wages. Though he later
sold IWC, Jones’ principles of producing fine watches carried over, a legacy
that is evident in IWC’s 2008 Vintage Collection.
The Pilot’s Watch, whose incandescent triangle helped
aviators calculate flight time, debuted in 1936. More than seven decades later,
IWC has stayed true to the original—note the dial and luminous triangle—although
the new timepiece is larger and uses a 98300-caliber movement ($10,800,
stainless steel; $41,600, platinum).
Three years after introducing the Pilot’s Watch, IWC launched
the Portuguese, named after two Portuguese businessmen seeking a watch
representative for their seafaring nation. The modern version closely mirrors
the one from 1939, but differs in that it uses alternating Arabic numerals and a
98295-caliber movement ($11,700, stainless steel; $41,500, platinum).
The first watch to employ Albert Pellaton’s automatic movement,
the 1955 Ingenieur was IWC’s most complicated timepiece. Today’s vintage
edition remains a technical tour de force, thanks to an 80111-caliber automatic
movement, which is also used in the Aquatimer and Da Vinci. The Aquatimer, unveiled in 1967—much to the satisfaction of
divers—remains scuba savvy, with its 12-bar water resistance, rubber strap, as
well as front and back sapphire crystals. The Da Vinci, introduced two
years later, was an exceptionally avant-garde wristwatch. It retains the
original’s unique case and unadorned hands (each of the three: $7,300, stainless
steel; $38,000, platinum).
IWC launched the hand-wound Portofino in 1984 and,
until the end of the 1990s, offered it in small quantities. Collectors, no
doubt, will rediscover the vintage Portofino, which boasts a 98800-caliber
Savonette movement, and—like the original—narrow Roman numerals, a small seconds
display, and a lunar phase display ($12,500, stainless steel; $44,000,
platinum).
International Watch Company, 800.432.9330, www.iwc.com
