Pilot's Watch Mark XVI Stainless Steel Black Dial

Sometimes more formally known as the “International Watch Co.,” IWC was initially established in 1868 by American watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones.

The company was later sold to the Raushenbach family - among IWC’s first historic shareholders - who guided it through the 20th century, contributing to its burgeoning reputation for material and mechanical innovation until the 1970s.

Though not founders, IWC is closely associated with several leading figures in the Swiss watch industry. Chief among these is Günter Blümlein (who would go on to resurrect A. Lange & Sӧhne) and engineer Kurt Klaus, inventor of the “autonomous” perpetual calendar.