THE FIRST OF 25...........

Here is the silver watch of Rohrschach , 1912.
Of course again Wilhelm Tell is depicted here, with a typical " hunting hat".
The Rohrschach watch was equipped with cal. 52...

.....Initially I thought that the images printed, stamped and engraved on the Schützenuhren were unique and only used for the limited series of these watches.
Apparently this is not true. Exactly the same images were used by other Swiss watch brands for Schützenfeste in different city's , years later, as well as on cups and medals to commemorate a shooting competition. Hebe has shown recently that the "kneeling Wilhelm Tell with crossbow" depicted on the 1979 Luzern Schützenuhr is exactly shown on a Schützenuhr by Zenith...
Kind regards,
Adrian.
(alwaysiwc).

Thank you for continuing with these posts Adrian, very much appreciated!

I wonder if there was some kind of 'model' image/statue used for the portraits of Wilhelm Tell.

Kind regards,

Clemens

Hi Clemens,
This particular image was designed by G. Stückelberg and the silver case has been made by Holy Frères in St Imier. This information is derived from the Meis book, page 131.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Hi Clemens,
This particular image was designed by G. Stückelberg and the silver case has been made by Holy Frères in St Imier. This information is derived from the Meis book, page 131.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Schützenfeste were not only organised in Switzerland but also in Germany and Austria. And also here, IWC was selected to produce pocket watches. Between 1862 and 1965, 23 times shooting competitions were held in Germany. The Germans preferred to call these "Bundesschiessen" after the Bundesländer or federal states within the country. In 1862 and 1912, Frankfurt organised the competition. In 1912, 202 shooting stands and 5200 marksmen from 4 countries were involved.
On this Frankfurter watch the old town bridge, crossing the river Main can be seen as well as ST-Pauls church. The problem with many Schützenuhren is that much of the silver has been rubbed off by wear and tear...

......
The front of the watch shows the "Rauschenbach" signature, typical for the era in which the Rauschenbach family owned IWC...

......
The movement is cal. 52.
On the innerlid of all watches the name of August Regel has been engraved.
August Regel was a watchmaker, born on 27-04-1844.
I could not found a connection between August Regel and the Frankfurter shooting competition. Probably he was the main organiser.....
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Thank you for yet another very informative followup Adrian, very interesting!

Kind regards,

Clemens

Many of us, myself included, are very happy you are continuing on with this interesting and informative series on the Schutzenfest watches. Thanks, Adrian.

Nelson

I second this motion. Please keep them coming.

....The first Schützenuhr made by IWC was the one of Frauenfeld, 1890. But Frauenfeld organised another ¨shooting competition in 1909 and 1935. For the 1935 festival, IWC was invited to produce once more, a Schützenuhr and so they did.
Depicted are 2 marksmen, one aiming and one loading his rifle....

.... In a way the dial of this watch is remarkable. The Schützenuhren always had very classic dials with Roman or Arabic numbers. However the 1935 Schützenuhr of Frauenfeld has a typical modern dial : applied indices, well known from the Ingenieur watches 20 years later.
This watch and the images were provided by Rolf Birkenkämper (thanks Rolf)...
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Thank you for another interesting sequel Adrian!

Kind regards,

Clemens

Its good to see something older than I looking so good. Adrian, thanks for the trip to the history books for this one.

Hi Adrian
I have an opportunity to purchase the exact watch in this pic, would you be able to give me some info on its pedigree?

Thanks
Craig

I can not end the thread about Schützenuhren without mentioning Schaffhausen..
Interestingly, Schaffhausen organised 3 shooting competitions over the years.
The first was in 1865, 3 years before Jones arrived in Schaffhausen and founded IWC...

....The second shooting competition was organised in 1905, but IWC was not asked to produce a Schützenuhr..!