International Watch Company
In 1868 Florentine Ariosto Jones founded International Watch Company after leaving E. Howard and Co in Boston. Jones headed to Switzerland where there was an abundance of watchmaking skilled labor and met with watch manufacturer Heinrich Moser who had built Schaffhausen's hydroelectric plant. Together they began discussing opening and creating The International Watch Company in Schaffhausen. In 1869 Jones rented the first industrial building owned by J.H. Moser to begin working and by 1874 business was doing well so they began planning for a new factory near the Rhine river and 1875, the construction work was completed. In the new factory 196 people were employed and the company left room to grow. In 1880 Johann Rauschenbach-Vogel took over the company which is the family it remained with for four generations. J. Rauschenbach-Schenk passed away in 1905 and his wife, as well as his two daughters and their husbands, Ernst Jakob Homberger and Carl Gustav Jung took over the company and ran the company through turbulent times until he passed in 1955 when
Hans Homberger took control. He had joined his father's company in 1934 and by 1957 he added a new wing to the factory and in the same year set up a modern pension fund for the staff. He bought new machines to meet new demands and continuously brought his production technology up to what were considered the latest standards. He ran the company until he passed in 1986.
Hans Homberger took control. He had joined his father's company in 1934 and by 1957 he added a new wing to the factory and in the same year set up a modern pension fund for the staff. He bought new machines to meet new demands and continuously brought his production technology up to what were considered the latest standards. He ran the company until he passed in 1986.
