International Museum of Horology

About

The Musée International d'Horlogerie (abbreviated MIH; International Watchmaking Museum) is a horological museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. It is owned and operated by the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. The museum is dedicated to the study of time and time-measuring instruments, and holds collections of clocks and watches, marine and deck chronometers, automata, and related archives and documentation.

In 1865 the Watchmaking School of La Chaux-de-Fonds had the idea of putting together a collection of old clocks, which was mainly used for didactic purposes. For 35 years, the clocks and watches in the collection were displayed solely for the use of students and teachers, until Maurice Picard, a Jewish French watch-making industrialist gave impetus to the idea of creating a museum. The town council was receptive to the idea, and on March 24, 1902, the town authorities signed the foundation deed of the Watchmaking Museum, originally located in the same building as the school. The collection gradually grew and the museum was enlarged three times, in 1907, 1952 and 1967.

In the early 1960s, a study commissioned by the City of La Chaux-de-Fonds and carried out by Georges-Henri Rivière, then director of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), highlighted both the importance of the collections and the need for a new building to present them. It eventually became clear that the premises were no longer suitable for a permanent and functional display of the whole collection. The Committee of the Museum therefore suggested to the Municipality of La Chaux-de-Fonds that a foundation should be set up with the purpose of promoting the construction of a new building. In 1967, the City created the Fondation Maurice Favre to support fundraising, and in 1968 the name Musée International d’Horlogerie was adopted.

Opened in 1974 under the name Musée International d’Horlogerie, the new building was characterized by avant-garde architectural and museographical concepts and techniques. The museum holds a collection of around 10,000 objects and also develops archival and documentation holdings related to time and its measurement.

In the regional context, watchmaking and art-mechanics know-how was inscribed in 2020 on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (France and Switzerland).

Both Le Locle and its geographical twin town La Chaux-de-Fonds have now been recognised as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, for their horological and related cultural past.

Built between 1972 and 1974, the museum building was designed by the Zurich architect Pierre Zoelly and the La Chaux-de-Fonds architect Georges-J. Haefeli. It occupies an underground volume of 20,000 m 3 (710,000 cu ft), excavated into the slope of a park. The concrete structure follows the site’s gradient and is arranged over three main subterranean levels corresponding to the principal museum zones: a hall for temporary exhibitions and assemblies; galleries dedicated to earlier periods; and areas devoted to manufacturing and decorative techniques as well as twentieth-century pieces.

Open surfaces overlooking one another create a subtly articulated space shaped by changes in level and lighting, reinforced by natural light. The museum opens to the outside through large glazed areas at the entrance, the astronomical gallery, and the restoration workshops. These glazed surfaces—along with those of the administrative pavilion and the belfry gallery—are integrated into curved walls and overhangs that project into the park.

The architects’ work was awarded the Prix de l'architecture béton 1977. In 1978 the museum received the Prix européen du musée de l'année 1977, which notably paid tribute to the museographers Serge Tcherdyne, Pierre Bataillard, and Mario Galloponi. The interior is characterized by restrained presentation, atmospheric effects, and materials chosen for elegance; indirect lighting emphasizes perspective, while spherical and cylindrical display cases echo the roundness of dials without obstructing the space.

The building has been described as a significant example of Swiss museum architecture of the 1970s, notably for its integration into the park and its use of exposed concrete. Its predominantly underground layout was intended to preserve the existing park while providing continuous, modular exhibition volumes suited to objects sensitive to light. The architectural design forms an integral part of the visitor experience, with a fluid circulation and changing levels supporting a chronological and thematic parcours dedicated to the measurement of time.

A monumental carillon by Onelio Vignando (1980) is installed on the museum forecourt. Conceived as an animated work combining bell sounds, movements of mobile elements, a soundscape, and light effects, it reflects the initial intention to make the forecourt a lively meeting point within the park. A heritage notice describes a structure 14 m (46 ft) long and 9 m (30 ft) high, resting on stainless-steel tubes, controlled by a master clock and featuring a complex programmed animation at regular intervals.

The collections of the Musée International d'Horlogerie include large and medium-sized clocks, mechanical and electronic watches, marine and deck chronometers, non-mechanical time-measuring instruments, automata, and painted works.

The collection—estimated at around 10,000 objects—also includes tools, machines, and industrial objects representative of regional watchmaking heritage. In parallel, the museum develops archives and historical documentation related to time in order to illuminate not only the technical history but also the artistic, social, and economic history of watchmaking. Part of the holdings is displayed permanently; Switzerland Tourism mentions an ensemble of more than 4,500 pieces (including around 2,700 watches and 700 clocks).

Among the major pieces presented in the permanent display are:

- One of the rare reconstructions of the Astrarium by Giovanni Dondi, whose fourteenth-century conception already includes a mechanism showing the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets;

- A comprehensive retrospective of the history of the Pendule neuchâteloise ;

- Clocks by masters such as Breguet, Janvier, Le Roy, Robin, and others;

- An early marine chronometer made by Ferdinand Berthoud ;

- Historical equipment used to manufacture parts and components for watchmaking;

- A musical clock by Pierre Jaquet-Droz ;