Portofino Watch

One of Switzerland’s major luxury watch companies was started by an American who saw the potential of bringing Switzerland’s superb watchmaking into the modern age through industrialized manufacturing and high-precision interchangeable parts. The New Hampshire–born watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones (1841–1916), who founded International Watch Company — known today as simply IWC — in 1868, was interested in “combining all the excellence of the American system of mechanism with the more skillful hand labor of the Swiss.”

Setting up the company with another American watchmaker, Charles Kidder, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, Jones used hydropower from the River Rhine for his plant’s machinery. Rethinking watch design would lead to one of IWC’s early successes: the Pallweber pocket watch. Based on an 1883 patent by Austrian watchmaker Josef Pallweber, the watch employed numbered disks for jumping hour and minute displays, making it a pioneer in digital timekeeping.

After Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel took over the watch manufacturer in 1880, four generations of his family led IWC into the 20th century. In 1905, Ernst Jakob Homberger and his brother-in-law Carl Jung — the famed Swiss psychiatrist — acquired IWC. Homberger bought out Jung’s holdings in 1929, and in the 1930s, the company introduced pilot watches, which were particularly robust and aimed solely at the civil aviation industry. These durable wristwatches were designed specifically to remain operational during extreme temperature shifts. (As blue watch dials are particularly hot right now, IWC's blue-dial Big Pilot is having a moment.)

The company still operates alongside the river where it was founded, having gained an international reputation over the past 150 years for its elegant designs and expert craftsmanship. Vintage IWC watches are prized by collectors — of whom there are many these days — and while the company continues to guard its attention to detail and quality, it has pushed its classic designs forward with modern innovation intended to stand the test of time.

IWC’s 2013 Ingenieur watch collection, with its precision based on an inventive constant-force mechanism, looked back to a 1955 Ingenieur model that featured a durable soft-iron inner cage as well as a 1976 update by leading Swiss watch designer Gérald Genta that encased its mechanism in a sleek steel case. IWC has also had a recent push toward sustainability, designing watches that are made to last a lifetime and beyond and earning the highest environmental ranking of any Swiss watch company in a 2018 report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature Switzerland (WWF).

Find vintage IWC wristwatches, Art Deco–style pocket watches and more on 1stDibs.

Antique, new and vintage wristwatches have captured the hearts and minds of all manner of watch collectors as well as the watchmakers themselves — it's time you found your own.

Certain vintage watches for men and iconic watch designs for women are sought after not only because of their graceful proportions or innovative materials but also because of the illustrious histories of the houses that created them, histories that they stylishly embody.

Bulgari’s legendary Serpenti watch was on everyone’s list after the collection’s bold bracelet, which technically debuted after the timepiece, graced the wrist of actress Elizabeth Taylor. If anything, elaborately crafted timepieces — the unmistakably boxy silhouette of Cartier Tank watches, the elegant and minimal Calatrava designed by legendary Swiss house Patek Philippe — are even more effective than the shape we associate with traditional wristwatches.

Form watches — the all-encompassing moniker bestowed upon non-round watches — are making headlines and completing contemporary fashionable ensembles the world over. At the same time, both casual fans and careful collectors are drawn to the unbeatable charm of vintage styles, such as the icons designed by Omega that even James Bond can’t resist.

In the early days of watchmaking, watches were fragile enough that they necessitated protection from the elements. Now, wristwatches made of gold and steel can withstand the harshest climates — even 100 meters underwater, in the case of Rolex’s Submariner. Designer Gérald Genta, whose range of clients included Rolex, created for Audemars Piguet the first luxury sports timepiece to be made from stainless steel. First introduced in 1972, the Royal Oak was a perfect choice for blending the form and function that are now synonymous with sports watches.

Are you shopping for a wristwatch? It’s good to keep your needs as well as your specific personal style in mind: A smaller, subtle timepiece is a good fit for small wrists. When will you be wearing your new accessory? There’s a versatile model out there for everyday wear, while a rugged, feature-heavy watch is a safe bet if you’re prone to embarking on all-weather activities in the great outdoors.

Find antique, new and vintage wristwatches on 1stDibs.