The grass-topped Musée
The grass-topped Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet, and the bucolic village of Le Brassus beyond; below: the museum’s gold-tinged exhibition space DEPARTURES CULTURE LOOKING BACK 38 Journey Through Time Humanity’s age-old fascination with timepieces and what makes them, well, tick is on full display at an array of new, and newly revamped, watchmaking museums. by Ken Kessler FEW INDUSTRIES ARE AS OBSESSED with history as watchmaking is, though this wasn’t always true. After mechanical timepieces were nearly wiped out by quartz in the 1970s, blue-chip firms rediscovered their legacies – and with them the nostalgic power and romantic gleam of a bygone era. Makers and wearers alike have appreciated watches based on historic models ever since, and this reverence for the engineering marvels of yesteryear also explains, partially, why there’s space for such a wide array of museums dedicated to watches, clocks and timekeeping. The most recent showcase to open, the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet, sets a new standard in the hamlet of Le Brassus, a little more than an hour’s drive from Geneva. The highlight, naturally, is one of the world’s greatest collections of Audemars Piguet timepieces, including unique watches and limited editions spanning the company’s entire history of wristwatch production. As Jasmine Audemars, chairwoman of the board of directors, explains, “We wanted visitors to experience our heritage, savoir-faire, cultural origins and openness to the world in a building that would reflect both our rootedness and forward-thinking spirit. But, above all, we wanted to pay tribute to the watchmakers and craftspeople who have made what Audemars Piguet is today, generation after generation.” Like most modern watch museums, the musée includes an atelier in which artisans work on some of the maison’s most ornate complications amid more than 300 watches on display in the spiral-shaped glass pavilion by Danish architect firm Bjarke Ingels Group, which is also building a hotel on-site, due to open next year. AMBROISE TEZENAS
JEF BRIGUET; WATCHES: COURTESY OF THE WATCHMAKERS In the new museums, architecture and the visitor experience have been prioritised, making the visits enjoyable for even those new to horological wonder The lunar landscape and Lunar Rover at the Omega Museum in Bienne are a nod to its iconic Speedmaster – worn by Buzz Aldrin during the first walk on the moon’s surface in 1969 Nearly all of the established manufactures possess key pieces in their archives but, until recently, these were either not on display or were revealed only to individuals – cherished clients – by invitation. The early exception to this rule, and for many the watch museum of note, is the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2021, it was the result of Patek Philippe honorary president Philippe Stern’s desire to create an all-embracing display of watchmaking, not just the brand’s own achievements. The monumental collection contains upwards of 2,000 items, many of which are Patek Philippe pieces, but also include rare automata and a staggering collection of enamel miniatures, reflecting Geneva’s reputation in that field. It is a truly jaw-dropping display – I have visited three times and have barely scratched the surface – that offers the ideal springboard for aficionados visiting the region and looking to see some of humanity’s most beguiling technological creations. Two such displays, if on a more modest scale, can be found at the TAG Heuer museum in La Chaux-de- Fonds, near Berne, where the array of treasures from the brand’s long history includes a replica of the first Swiss timepiece in space, a stopwatch carried by American astronaut John Glenn in 1962; and at IWC’s museum in Schaffhausen, along the Swiss- German border. Here, the ground floor of the marque’s original headquarters, built in 1875, has been converted into an exceptional museum, renowned for its collection of pilot watches. Both have delights that will surprise connoisseurs and ensure the lasting legacies of the respective brands. Meanwhile, at the Omega Museum in Bienne, the approach is a bit different, appealing not just to A 1961 yellow-gold asymmetric rectangular wristwatch from the Audemars Piguet archives Omega’s 1965 Moonwatch Speedmaster – the first Nasa-qualified timepiece An oversized pilot-style Patek Philippe model from 1936 LOOKING BACK DEPARTURES 39
