All About Swiss Army Watches
The major producer of Swiss Army watches, International Watch Company, was put up in 1868 by Florentino Ariosoto Jones. His idea was to combine modern engineering with Switzerland’s indisputable craftsmanship, thus resulted in the modern Swiss Army watch.
Jones suggested this idea to Schaffhausen, a Swiss town which was left behind during the Industrial Revolution. At first, Swiss people were unsure about Jones’ idea and thought that it would only result in low class watches. They were also sceptical that they would not be earning much as a result of a bluff idea.
Johann Heinrich Moser arrived to Schaffhausen and set up the first hydroelectric power plant in town. Shortly thereafter, the two, Moser and Jones met and established the first Swiss Army watch factory in town.
With the hydroelectric power plant, electricity was introduced to the picture thus,enhancing Swiss Army watches’ quality by year 1888. After the First World War, International Watch Company finally provided their workers proper compensation benefits, such as health insurance, pension, and housing plans for them and their families.
Having invested on quartz movement, International Watch Company is the premier name of quality Swiss Army watches. They were also the first to manufacture Swiss Army watches that are electronic battery operated.
During the mid-70s, International Watch Company experienced decline due to a sudden increase of raw materials specifically gold. Another reason was that Japan produced cheap, low class quartz timepieces, a counterfeit of Swiss watches which led the IWC to ship lesser than the usual volume of their products.
International Watch Company responded by employing outstanding designers and engineers with the likes of Porsche. This led to luxurious, high end fashion and jewellery watches which helped recapture the consumers’ trust and appeal towards Swiss Army watches.
Most important of all, the company has kept detailed records of every Swiss Army watch it has produced since 1880. Users of a Swiss Army watch made by the International Watch Company can approach them and find out what parts went into their watch and when the watch was manufactured. The company claims that they still keep parts for all of their Swiss Army watches, and that even the antique ones from the 1800′s can be repaired.
Today, the company’s Swiss Army watches vary in price from the low $100′s to the high $1000 (U.S. Dollars). Every year the company auctions off Swiss Army watches to benefit a school in Mali.
Swiss Army knives can be bought with several different options. For further reading on the origins of the Victorinox Swiss Army logo click the link.