IWC - International Watch Co. was founded in 1868 by Florentine Jones, 27 year old American master watchmaker from Boston. The IWC Watch Company was established at Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Along the Rhine Jones hopes to benefit from the newly built hydro-electric facilities necessary to carry the production. Jones was fascinated by the idea of the unification of America with expertise in the automation of the legendary Swiss precision. He wasted no time installing the machine tools for the most part imported from the United States straight to the Schaffhausen.