The Rhine, Western and Central Europe’s longest river, flows like a lifeblood through IWC Schaffhausen. Earlier however, Its founder, Florentine Ariosto Jones had crossed another body of water, the Atlantic, with an idea that was as ambitious as it was unconventional. After rising in the ranks at E. Howard Watch & Clock in Boston, USA, Jones witnessed America’s industrial watchmaking and sought to fuse its efficiency with the artisanal skill of Swiss watchmakers. His vision was to produce high-quality watches meant for the American export market instead of Switzerland.
Instead of setting up shop in the more established watchmaking regions of Switzerland, Jones had his eyes set on Schaffhausen. His logic was industrial to say the least; artisans and craftspeople could be recruited, but forgoing the infinite power of the River Rhine was foolish. And so he went about to seek the acquaintance of local industrialist Heinrich Moser who built the first Swiss dam featuring hydromechanical turbines to produce energy. In Moser, Jones found a kindred spirit. With Moser’s invaluable support, Jones established the International Watch Co. in 1868, initially named with foresight and a declaration of global intent rooted in Schaffhausen, by the banks of the River Rhine.
IWC Headquarters Baumgartenstrasse 15
While the manufacture is just shy of its 160th anniversary, the same spirit animates IWC’s presence across its two Schaffhausen addresses. Baumgartenstrasse 15, where the original headquarters was built in the orchard of Allerheiligen Monastery, remains operational. It sits at the intersection of past and present, housing the IWC Museum while remaining the heartbeat of the manufacture. A short drive away lies the sleek Manufakturzentrum manufacturing facility inaugurated in 2018 to house state-of-the-art engineering and rigours of hand-assembly.
On the morning of 30 March 2025, I arrived in Schaffhausen after a scenic 40-minute drive from Zurich airport. We drove past endless hilly fields dotted with cottages, cattle and winding rivers, then crossed border control into German territory and back again into Switzerland en route to Schaffhausen. The town’s name is a combination of the German words schaf and hausen which mean sheep and dwelling, respectively, or house, in this instance. It was rightfully depicted in Schaffhausen’s coat of arms, a black ram with a red tongue, a golden crown, and golden horns and hooves. After wandering and soaking in the town’s stillness and hushed cobbled streets (it was a Sunday, most shops were closed) that seemed suspended in time, an industrious energy beckoned the next morning.
We began the next day bright and early, greeted by soft sunshine and chilly gusts of an early spring morning during our short stroll to Baumgartenstrasse 15. A stoic energy radiated from the building’s facade of shale and cream, and there was a sense of awe from just admiring the exterior, let alone walking through its front door. Even though our time spent in the IWC Museum was brief, it stole the show as archival records, watches, artefacts, and literature demonstrated the depth and breadth of Jones’ vision for IWC’s history across the decades.
IWC Manufakturzentrum by night
After a 10-minute Sprinter ride from Baumgartenstrasse 15, we arrived at the IWC Manufakturzentrum nestled by the main road with forestry flanking on either side. Inaugurated in 2018 to coincide with IWC’s 150th anniversary, Manufakturzentrum is a play on the German words manufaktur and zentrum which mean manufacture and centre, respectively. In other words, it is a central hub that marries IWC’s traditional watchmaking with state-of-the-art manufacturing methods and technologies. With a predominant white exterior punctuated by black framed full length windows, it is a thoroughly modern piece of architecture that reflects IWC’s modernity.
IWC Manufakturzentrum lobby
We entered into the airy and cavernous nine-metre high entrance lobby with several sights greeting us. The first was a wall-mounted perpetual calibre model, followed by a wall of nine portraits of IWC’s key individuals who shaped the brand, including Jones himself, the Homberger father and son duo, Kurt Klaus and Albert Pellaton, and the GPHG “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix trophy awarded to the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar last year.
From there, it was a direct access to the movement component production workshop, where up to 1,500 components are produced for IWC’s different movement families, including the Calibre 52 and 82 (automatic), 59 (manual winding), and 69 (chronograph). Lined up along a stark corridor are milling machines tasked with producing the various components, some of which are minuscule to the human eye.
Movement parts production
Our guide led us next into the electroplating department. Here, science meets surface beauty as movement components receive their final finishing treatments. While we think of its aesthetic touches, its primary function is to protect brass components from corrosion and tarnish. In an almost alchemical process, the crisp, silvery-white sheen is the result of the pieces being coated in layers of nickel and rhodium. A select few components, such as the engraved barrel bridge, undergo a far more intricate process: first gold-plated, then engraved, and finally polished with Côtes de Genève, before being dipped in rhodium. Once the masking is stripped away, the golden script gleams from beneath the silvery finish — a hidden flourish of artistry visible only to those who peer inside the movement.
Movement assembly line
From there, we walked past the cleanroom environment where the soul of the watch ticks. The air is constantly filtered, pressurised and circulated — 50,000 cubic metres of it every hour — to eliminate even the remotest chance of contamination of a calibre’s greatest nemesis, dust. The space felt as pristine as specialised laboratories would, yet it pulsed with the quiet reverence of a watchmaking atelier. Here, the actual movement families take shape row by row as the assembly process remains a deeply human affair. We observed watchmakers, seated in serene focus, perform their delicate craft with surgical precision and a deft touch that only skilled artisans could muster.
Metal bar storage and case production
We then journeyed into the basement, into IWC’s realm of metallurgy, where a wall rack housing numerous metre-long metal bars (raw materials) greeted us. IWC has built a formidable reputation here with material innovations, particularly through its pioneering use of Ceratanium®. A step-by-step model demonstrates how this proprietary alloy takes its final shape as a watch case. However, traditional metals such as stainless steel and precious metals receive the same amount of attention and detail. Blanks are first cut and painstakingly milled for hours, depending on the case geometry and the material’s hardness. Each finished case undergoes polishing and a final inspection, where only the human eye can truly judge the perfection of the surface.
Even though the level of sophistication in the manufacturing techniques was awe-inspiring, we are constantly reminded that human skill, judgment, and sensitivity remain irreplaceable in the most mechanised stages of production. That, perhaps, is the essence of IWC: the quiet dialogue between machine and maker, precision and passion all flowing steadily, like the River Rhine.
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