IWC Jones Caliber
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Front, Back, Face, Case mark, Cuvette mark, Movement, 2nd view of movement, 3rd view of movement, Angle view of movement, 2nd angle view of movement, Setting lever in setting position, Setting lever in winding position Florentine Aristo Jones was employed by Howard in Roxbury. He went to Switzerland in 1868 and founded the International Watch Co. He was in difficulties with the investors from the beginning and only lasted until 1874. The first watches produced are to Jones' design and are known as Jones Caliber. The grade markings are contained in the book on the International Watch Co. by Reinhard Meis. The E grade is the highest with 20 jewels having cap jewels on the escape wheel and pallet arbor and all jewels in gold settings. This movement is engraved with a script H and is labeled D. H. Craig New York. It has 16 jewels with the jewels set directly in the plates. However, since the serial number is 576, it may have been the highest grade when it was made. This example is marked Elson's patent, referring to Elson's patent mainspring attachment. This is Elson's patent 82,097 from 1868 which was filed with an assignment to F. A. Jones in Boston, that predates IWC. The patent pages may be viewed at the the Elson link on the left. The watch has Jones' patent setting mechanism. Pushing in on the rod shaped lever puts the mechanism in the setting position. Depressing the crown releases the lever and allows the watch to be wound. This patent was issued July 8, 1873 to Jones in Boston, and follows an earlier patent that was issued to Kidder and Jones while residing in Schaffhausen. You can find the patent pages at the Jones link on the left. The case appears to be American made and is marked 18K with maker "F.A.N." The scan below shows the E grade movement from the Meis book and the page thumbnail can be expanded to show the grade descriptions (in German).
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