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IWC is a high quality watch that has unique technical and design characteristics. This is the watch for people who appreciate innovation and exclusivity.Amongst the more distinctive features that IWC include with their watches are; the smallest chronograph, extreme resistance to magnetic fields, and a calendar/moonphase accurate to 500 years (see interesting facts). For aviation buffs, IWC also has a strong tradition in this field.Although IWC attains chronometer certification, they have a self imposed accuracy testing criteria which is tougher than the C.O.S.C. standards. Aesthetically IWC has a classic elegance associated with luxury design not found with other more sporty Swiss watch brands.IWC was founded in 1869 by an American, Florentine Ariosto Jones. Switzerland offered Jones access to a larger pool of watchmakers and a better cost base to manufacture watches and export them to the US. Whilst most watch manufacturers were established in French-speaking Switzerland, IWC was set up in Schaffhausen, a German-speaking, north eastern town of Switzerland. To this day, IWC remains the only watch making company in East Switzerland.Early financial problems resulted in several transfers of ownership before Johannes Raschenbach-Vogel and family took ownership and transformed the company. Several significant achievements were made such as the development of the 52/53 caliber pocket watch which cemented IWC's reputation as a manufacturer of precision pocket watches.Growth of the company slowed until the second World War when demand for military purpose watches improved its fortunes. IWC developed an oversized anti-magnetic watch which was preferred by pilots. The Mark X watch (1944) featuring the in-house built Calibre 83 was also supplied to the military with success and has since become a classic.After the war IWC continued to successfully develop new watch models such as the Mark XI (1948) and the Ingenieur (1955) and sales continued to improve. The Mark XI was developed especially for the Royal Airforce and proved to be the pilot's watch of choice, not only in the UK, but throughout much of the Commonwealth including Australia. As with the Mark X, the Mark XI is a collectors' classic.IWC survived the economic turbulence of the 70's and early 80's which affected all the Swiss watch manufacturers. Part of this success was in working with Ferdinand A. Porsche, an external designer, to produce a number of notable watch models such as the Compass watch (1978), Titanium Chronograph (1980), and the Ocean 2000 Titanium divers watch (1982). IWC survived also because it kept its focus on exclusive mechanical movement watches, rather than manufacturing of quartz watches, a market which was being flooded by cheap Japanese alternatives.In recent times IWC has become known as the manufacturer of the most "complex" watches such as the Da Vinci (accurate calendar and moon phase until 2499) and the Grande Complication (17 different mechanical functions). These are essentially mechanical functions which exceed the abilities of watches driven by microchips. Today, IWC continues to successfully carve a niche in the luxury Swiss watch market.
