Il Destriero Scafusia "Oriental" is without doubt one of the most complicated wrist-watches ever produced and the most exclusive and valuable watch to ever leave the IWC factory in 1995. A true work of art, the "Destriero" was especially developed to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the International Watch Co. in Schaffhausen in 1993. Produced in a limited edition of 125 examples in yellow gold, rose gold and platinum, roughly 107 pieces of this edition had been finished by mid 2000, with the remaining to be produced at a max. rate of 6 each year until 2004. Cal. 1868 contains no less than 750 parts, individually manufactured, handfinished and adjusted in order to ensure minimal friction and the harmonious interaction of its 22 complex functions and displays. Like the "Da Vinci", it is the only perpetual calendar watch with a 4-digit display for the year, an IWC exclusive. The house also holds a patent on the minute repeater slide mechanism - built to protect the movement from moisture and dust, a problem sometimes associated with less sophisticated slides. For the tourbillon mechanism alone almost 100 tiny parts had to be made of a total weight of merely 0.296 gram. The innovative use of non-magnetic and lightweight titanium for the cage will ensure an unrivaled standard of accuracy. The "Oriental", is the only and therefore truly unique watch out of this limited edition in 18K white gold, factory-set with differently faceted diamonds on bezel and bracelet. It was featured in IWC's "International Watch" summer 2000 issue. A true masterpiece, assembled and regulated with utmost care as one would expect from this reputable maker. In the 1870's, American-born Florentine Ariosto Jones, who had been appointed director of the E. Howard & Co. watchmaking factory in Boston at the early age of 27, decided to manufacture high-quality movements and watch parts for the American market using American technology and skilled labor from Switzerland, where wages were comparatively low. However, the skilled workers in the Geneva region and in the remote valleys of the Jura mountains resisted the plans of a man they considered an intruder, and it was not until Jones teamed up with Johann Heinrich Moser from Schaffhausen that his plan could be realized. Moser had built a hydrostation in Schaffhausen, powered by water from the Rhine, which generated low-cost energy.In 1868, Jones settled on the banks of the Rhine, creating the International Watch Company. Schaffhausen had long been a watchmaking town, with a clockmaker's guild existing there since 1583. The town was also home to the famous Habrecht family of clockmakers, who built the impressive astronomical clock for the Strasburg cathedral. However, Jones' arrival marked a new era in time measurement, for he was not only an entrepreneur but a talented watchmaker. The first pocket watches produced in Schaffhausen with the Jones caliber had a wealth of advanced technical features. A year after its foundation, the "American" watch factory passed into Swiss hands, but its philosophy - "Probus Scafusia" (good, solid craftsmanship from Schaffhausen) - has remained unchanged. By the late 1930's, IWC's reputation was so good that its watches were considered "the poor man's Patek Philippe". In recent years, IWC enlarged their horological scope by investing in the German firm of Lange & Söhne.