SWITZERLAND ON TIME

Everyone associates Switzerland with great watches and touring the birthplace of the nation’s timepiece industry in Le Locle and La-Chaux-de-Fonds gives visitors a unique opportunity to observe the world’s most exclusive brands being manufactured before their very eyes. Located high in the Jura Mountains, the twin cities became listed UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2009 due to their outstanding urban development and Art Nouveau architecture. Enjoy wandering through historic city streets featuring magnificent period buildings while touring this exceptional example of symbiosis between the timepiece industry and town planning. And for those who can’t stray that far afield, a trip through Geneva’s Patek Philippe Museum offers visitors a taste of Switzerland’s historic mechanical and horological wonders.

TISSOT Tissot has been manufacturing watches since 1853 and began trading their savonette watches in Russia as early as 1857. The visit begins with a tour of a showroom featuring vintage watches – including a replica of the famous Montre du Tsar – and Tissot’s contemporary collections. Visitors go on to tour Tissot’s brand new storage facility with 5 robots managing a 12 million item inventory. Tissot has maintained its historic ties with Russia by sponsoring the Russian national hockey team and has consistently remained a familiar timepiece brand name across the globe. 1 Tourelles 17 2400 Le Locle tel: +41 32 933 31 11 to reserve guided tour: www.tissot.ch CHRISTOPHE CLARET SA Christophe Claret has achieved what few have dared to attempt by founding his luxury brand just 22 years ago, then going on to create a successful line of elite timepieces and unique movements. Mr. Claret’s innate talent for devising horological machinery and innovative designs – including the sumptuous Blackjack watch – has made its mark on luxury watch manufacturing. The visit begins in a superb early 20th Century villa and goes on to tour the entire production process in an ultra-modern facility which is an architectural marvel in itself. Le Soleil d’Or 2400 Le Locle tel: +41 32 933 80 80 to reserve guided tour www.christopheclaret.com GIRARD-PERREGAUX/JEANRICHARD Girard-Perregaux/Jeanrichard has been manufacturing luxury watches for 220 years and this extensive tour includes following the intricate production process, which spans 4 floors of 2 historic Art Nouveau buildings. Visitors are then escorted to the Jeanrichard Museum, located a few steps away from the actual manufacture and housed in the founding family’s period villa. The museum includes a recreation of an early watchmaker’s workshop as well as a series of rooms featuring tools of the watch making trade from the 18th Century to the mid-1900s. 1, Place Girardet 2301 La-Chaux-de-Fonds tel: +41 32 911 33 33 to reserve guided tour: www.jeanrichard.com www.girard-perregaux.com VULCAIN Founded in 1858, Vulcain is famous for creating the first alarm clock watch mechanism in 1947 which soon became the extremely successful President’s Watch, worn by numerous American presidents such as Eisenhower and Truman. Located in a stunning historic villa overlooking Le Locle, the tour includes a lovely exhibit of Vulcain’s vintage to modern day watch collection as well as a variety of photographs and certificates tracing the brand’s rich history. Tourelles 4 2400 Le Locle tel: +41 32 930 80 10 www.vulcain-watches.com PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM – GENEVA Visiting the Patek Philippe Museum is a bit like taking a trip back in time to the early days of horology. Located in a superb historic building in Geneva city centre, the luxury brand’s museum houses an impressive collection of timepieces from the early 17th Century to the present day, many of which are truly jewels of the watchmaker’s art. Visitors will also find a vast archive of Antoni Patek’s personal documents attesting to the astonishing rise of a man who knew how to benefit from the great innovations of his time and found one of the world’s most prestigious brands. Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers 7 CH-1205 Geneva tel: +41 (0)22 807 09 10 www.patekmuseum.com OTHER REPUTED HOROLOGY MUSEUMS: MUSEE INTERNATIONAL D’HORLOGERIE rue des Musees 29 2301 La-Chaux-de-Fonds tel: +41 32 967 68 61 to reserve guided tour www.mih.ch MUSEE D’HORLOGERIE DU LOCLE CHATEAU DES MONTS route des Monts 65 2400 Le Locle tel: +41 32 933 89 80 to reserve guided tour www.mhl-monts.ch