International Watch Co. redesigns Pallweber pocket watch

A little horology trivia: Digital clocks descended from the pocket watch. And you’ve got Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber to thank.

Invented by Pallwebber in 1883, the first digital pocket watch used a patented “jump” mechanism to rotate the dials displaying the hour and minutes in numerical form the moment the watch’s conventional second hand completed a full rotation.

Since the man didn’t have his own watch brand, Pallweber licensed his design to a relatively unknown timepiece producer at the time, Switzerland-based International Watch Co. IWC went on to produce about 15,000 of the digital Pallweber pocket watches from 1885 to 1887.

IWC Watch (3 images)

Now, in honor of their upcoming 150th birthday, IWC is going to make 250 more of ‘em — except there’s a twist. This time, they’re designing the Pallweber pocket watch to be worn on your wrist.

With a power reserve of 60 hours, the IWC Tribute to Pallweber Edition has a hand-wound 94200 caliber movement with 54 jewels. Presented in 18-carat red gold case and festooned with a leather strap, the new watch will be priced around $38,600 when it arrives at IWC boutiques and retailers in April of 2018.