World’s largest IWC store opens in Amsterdam

IWC Schaffhausen is known for its clear design language paired with technology and innovative ideas. Unusual textures, exciting materials paired with high-end technology bring customers closer to the world of the brand in a new way in a pleasant atmosphere.

For the opening of the store in Amsterdam, the inspiring and unifying element of water was staged with the temporary installation “The Origins of Time”, an installation by the tech collective Baast Studio. This installation immerses visitors in the Amsterdam canals and provides an insight into the history of the brand. This new way of presenting the brand can also be found in the product presentation. The “Strap Studio” shows a selection of different watch straps. On the second floor there is a workshop where you can watch the watchmakers at work. Small jobs such as cleaning or repairs are carried out here. The waiting time is shortened either at the “Big Pilot Bar” or in the spacious lounge area.

This new brand identity presents the innovative Swiss company and its history primarily through impressive images that are perfectly integrated into the architecture and color scheme of the rooms. These colors were taken from nature and are the same as those found in the watch models.
Titanium and ceramic also play a major role, and not just for the watch case. Back in the 1980s, the company was one of the pioneers in the industry in the production of lightweight watches made of titanium.
The product range, which includes the classics “Big Pilots Watch” and “Portuguese”, stands out above all for its durability, precision and robustness. The brand is known for traditional craftsmanship and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes.

Photo credit (all photos) : IWC Schaffhausen

The latter was viewed with skepticism in the early days of IWC Schaffhausen, when Florentine Ariosto Jones, an American watchmaker and assistant manager of the E. Howard Watch and Clock Co. in Boston, wanted to combine Swiss craftsmanship with the modern manufacturing techniques of his native USA as a pioneer. This was the beginning of the International Watch Company in Schaffhausen in 1868, which produced outstanding watches by highly skilled watchmakers combined with modern technology and with the help of waterpower from the nearby Rhine. After Jones returned to the USA, the company was taken over by the industrialist family Rauschenbach in Schaffhausen. Over the decades, the company changed hands several times. The last private owner was Hans Ernst Homberger, before IWC Schaffhausen became part of Richemont in 2000.