$11,800
"Portuguese - F. A. Jones" International Watch Co., Schaffhausen, "Portuguese - F. A. Jones", No. 1517/3000, Ref. 5442. Made in a limited edition of 3000 pieces circa 2005. Very fine, large, water-resistant, stainless steel gentleman's wristwatch with a stainless steel IWC buckle. Accompanied by the original box and certificate. Two-body, polished and brushed, concave lugs, transparent case back with 6 screws, sapphire crystals. Matte silver with black Arabic numerals, outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds dial. Blued steel "Breguet" hands. Cal. 98290, rhodium-plated, "oeil-de-perdrix" and hand-engraved decoration, 18 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Dial and movement signed, case numbered. Diam. 43 mm. Thickness 11 mm. Notes In the 1870s, Florentine Ariosto Jones, director of E. Howard & Co. in Boston, began to manufacture high-quality movements and watch parts for the American market using American technology and skilled Swiss labor. Jones teamed up with Johann Heinrich Moser from Schaffhausen, who in 1868 had built a hydrostation in Schaffhausen powered by the Rhine, generating low-cost energy. Jones created the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen. The first pocket watches produced with the Jones caliber had many advanced technical features. A year after its foundation, the "American" watch factory passed into Swiss hands, but its phi Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2007-03-28
