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In 1868, an American by the name of Florentine Ariosto Jones made the brave decision to found a watch factory in Switzerland from where he planned to supply the USA with movements. Switzerland was a low-wage country back then and had a ready supply of skilled labour for the watchmaking industry (mainly manual work carried out by people working from their homes). In French-speaking Switzerland Jones met with fierce resistance because people feared for their jobs and the work they did at home.
In 1850 the town of Schaffhausen was in grave danger of missing the bus to the Industrial Age. It was at this stage that watch manufacturer and industrialist Johann Heinrich Moser stepped in and did the region a huge service. As a pioneer of "white coal", he built Schaffhausen's first hydroelectric plant and laid the cornerstone for future industrialization. He probably met F.A. Jones in Le Locle and showed a great interest in his plans. And so it was that the foundations were laid for the first and only watch manufacturers in north-eastern Switzerland: the INTERNATIONAL WATCH CO. in Schaffhausen.
