The Industrial Age was sweeping across Europe and North America. For the first time, time-consuming but quality traditional craftsmanship that had survived through generations came across new technologies that promised to speed up production, and the result was cross-bred brands that had looked back to their artistic past but had also moved forward to new exciting features. The International Watch Company or IWC of Switzerland is one case. In 1868, an American engineer founded the company in Switzerland seeking to merge state-of-the-art technologies with unmatched watchmaking mastery of complications that create precise movement. When Swiss met American, it was a marriage of innovation that easily built a name for IWC, the sole watchmaker on Switzerland’s east side at that time—other watchmakers were on the west. Across time, the march of newer technologies, such as miniature batteries and transistor circuits, transformed IWC from purely mechanical complication to a hybrid of precision mechanics and electronics. Likewise, the brand is a pioneer of haute horlogerie, the art of timepiece design and science of watch movement, producing memorable IWC watches that exude precision engineering with a fashionable flair. Today, IWC Collections run from trendy robust watches to professional sports pieces, whether for undersea performance (Aquatimer) or timepiece for aviators (Pilot’s Watches).

 

Shreve is an authorized dealer for IWC.

 

 

Image: IWC 3717-01 Wrist Watch

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Watch_Company

http://www.iwc.com/en/