Brand Directory: IWC

In 1867 Florentine applied for a European passport with the dream of creating watches using the American system of Watchmaking. This system was taken from the Federal Armories at Springfield and Harpers Ferry. Where armaments needed high precision interchangeable parts. This was perfect to use in watchmaking and Florentine was a pioneer in introducing it to the Swiss. In 1868 Florentine and Charles Kidder ended up in Schaffhausen Switzerland. Originally called the company F. A Jones & Co which was later changed to IWC International Watch Company. In 1876 Florentine returned to the USA where he retired and sadly passed away in 1916. The spirit which he spent a lifetime perfecting carries on today in the modern IWC watches.