[Page Header Image above courtesy of Reflexion]
Our visit to the IWC Schaffhausen Watch Manufucture
Curious?
47° 41′ 40” N
08° 38′ 11” E
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As a passionate watch enthusiast, I was extremely excited to visit the watch manufacture and museum of one of the most prestigious Swiss watchmakers. In fact, it was a chance to discover more about one of my all-time favorite brands. If you are into Swiss watches, you surely know about IWC – and if not, here’s some info for you 🙂
International Watch Company, abbreviated to IWC, was founded by American watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones in 1868 and is located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Back then, Jones managed to merge American engineering and pioneering spirit with Swiss core values such as high quality, craftsmanship, and precision. Nowadays, IWC is owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, which also owns some of the world’s most prestigious luxury watch companies.
In contrast to almost all other Swiss watch manufacturing companies which are based in Western Switzerland, IWC is based in Schaffhausen in Eastern Switzerland.
Museum
To kick off the day, we were welcomed by IWC employees and our museum guide in a meeting room – with coffee and croissants.
Then we were introduced to the history of the brand, with an interesting tour through the museum and the IWC boutique.
The museum houses some very rare time-pieces. From the very first creations to unique and limited editions to grand complications. Some of these time-pieces really make your heart beat a bit faster 🙂
The manufacture
After the interesting museum visit, we headed to the IWC manufacture to learn more about the art of IWC watchmaking. I can only say, WOW – craftsmanship and precision work at its finest!
The very best was waiting for us at the end
So at the end of the visit, we entered a room with the COMPLETE IWC range! Every single IWC timepiece that I have ever dreamed of was waiting on that long table to be worn – YAY!
IWC has several different product families, each with different functions and the aim to appeal to people with different lifestyles and tastes. This includes the Jubilee Collection, Pilot, Portofino, Da Vinci, Ingenieur, Aquatimer as well as the Portugieser.
During the years, I have developed a passion for Swiss watches and I am also happy to say that I already own several of them – but there is one watch that I am still dreaming of: the IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar, my all time favourite timepiece! And now I finally had to chance to wear it. And of course, there were some two very very special Portugieser timepieces as well: For example the 2 PORTUGIESER GRANDE COMPLICATION! Okay, for these two, I will have to work a few more years – considering the cost of $235,000 – but it was still a dream to wear them.
A special thanks to IWC Schaffhausen who made this visit a reality!
