IWC Schaffhausen founder Mr Florentine Ariosto Jones was an American who set up his own high-tech factory in German-speaking Schaffhausen in 1868. From the outset, Mr Jones’ International Watch Company harnessed the skills of Swiss workers, the efficiency of US-made machinery and the hydropower of the Rhine. It was a key producer of military watches in WW2, and in the modern era has built on this heritage, combined with the high-end expertise that was revived in the 1980s.

By 1944, just 12 Swiss watchmakers, including IWC, had the job of turning out high-grade wristwear for the Allied infantry, according to the Ministry of Defence’s strict WWW (watch, wrist, waterproof) spec of high-legibility ruggedness. To collectors, assembling the complete “Dirty Dozen” suite is the holy grail. To IWC, WWW was the forerunner to its legendary Mark 11 of 1948, which remained in service to RAF pilots until 1981.

IWC worked closely with Porsche Design in the late 1970s and 1980s, pioneering the use of matt-black PVD coatings and, most importantly, titanium. The Titan of 1980 was the world’s first in this lightweight-yet-tricky-to-engineer metal, followed by the Ocean 2000, resistant down to an unprecedented 2,000m.