Artifacts from the IWC Swiss Museum were brought to the IWC store. These include the first examples of the Jones caliber, developed in the 1870s by the founder of the brand, the first anti-magnetic Ingenieur watch and the Da Vinci perpetual calendar in sky blue ceramic.
A pocket watch in a gold case with a Savonette case (1875) is powered by the Jones caliber, developed by the founder of the company, Florentin Ariosto Johnson. At that time, the mechanisms were manufactured in Switzerland and shipped to New York, where they were installed in the cases. It was in New York in the 1870s that the headquarters of the watch company was located. The Lepine pocket watch from 1885 has a digital display system by Joseph Polweber: the time is displayed in large indices on rotating discs. For several years up to 1890, up to 20 thousand of these watches were manufactured, later they were discontinued.
1 of 10 Savonette Pocket Watch with caliber Jones, 1875 © Press Service Lepine Pocket Watch with Caliber PallweberIII, 1885 © Press Service Portugieser Automatic, 2001 © Press Service Aquatimer Watches, 1967 © Press Service Pilot's Watch UTC, 1998 © Press Service lngenieur Watch, 1955 © Press Service Classic 1974 © Press Service Romana Perpetual Calendar Watch, 1995 © Press Service Da Vinci Ceramic Watch, 1986 © Press Service Portugieser Watch, 1942 © Press Service
The rest of the exhibits date back to the 20th century. Among them are some of the first "Portuguese" in 1942 in a large case with a high-precision caliber and a Portuguese Automatic 2001 with automatic winding from Albert Pellaton from a limited edition; an early example of the 1955 Ingenieur with an internal anti-magnetic case and the 1960s Aquatimer with a 200-meter waterproof case; the Romana watch with a perpetual calendar 1995 (despite the name, Arabic indexes are placed on the dial) and the aviator's Pilot's Watch UTC 1998 in bright blue.
One of the most spectacular exhibits is the Da Vinci watch with a stand-alone perpetual calendar in a zirconium oxide case (1986). The sophisticated chronograph caliber was developed by Kurt Clauss. The dial, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's fortification project, neatly housed the entire display with nine hands, a four-digit year indication and a moon phase indicator. The case is crafted from innovative ceramics in a sky blue color.
The exhibition will run until December 5.>