International Watch Co., also known as IWC, is a luxury Swiss watch manufacturer located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and founded by American watchmaker Florentine Ariosto Jones in 1868. This Wikipedia page summarises their long history of watch making.

IWC, like many other manufacturers in the 1970s, employed the ESA 9162 (date only) and ESA 9164 (day and date) tuning fork movements in their electronic watches.  These watches were made between 1971 and 1973.

• Calibre 150 : the date only version (ESA 9162). 24,600 were made.
• Calibre 160 : the day and date version (ESA 9164). 6,000 were made.

Although the movements were standard ESA movements, the same as those found in the Tissot Tissonics, Longines Ultronics, Baume & Mercier Tronosonics and many others, IWC did use some unusual cases.

IWC Edison Electronic

The IWC Edison Electronic employed a “hard metal” tungsten carbide treated case which was approximately 1000 vickers rated.  Of the 6,000 Cal. 160 watches produced, around 1,500 were Edisons models.  The following photographs kindly supplied by Alexandre Goy:

IWC Kriegsmarine Pocket Watch

OK, I know it has nothing to do with Electric Watches but back in 2007, my neighbour popped round saying he had an “old pocket watch” that his father had given him; we’re not quite sure where he got it from.  Anyway, he wondered if I could identify and service it.

As soon as I saw it, I told him about IWC being a very respectable Swiss watch company, but I only noticed the “KM” and its significance while I was servicing it.  Cal 67 is certainly not a rare movement as it was made from 1933 to 1958 with 23,400 examples.

This example only has the “KM” (Kriegsmarine) on the dial to signify its use by the German Navy in WW 2; no Nazi insignia.  The movement serial number dates it to between 1939 and 1945.