The "Watch Valley" covers all the Swiss Jura Arc, from

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, and is the primary location of the Swiss

watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

-making industry. Beginning initially in 15th century Geneva, the cradle of the European time keeping industry, and spreading north east through the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...

, the great majority of the companies related to the Swiss watch-making industry were first established. Continuing to the present day, centuries of tradition, rigor, and the know-how of skilled artisans, has forged the world recognized reputation of the great Swiss watch houses. Some of the famous watchmakers currently producing in the Watch Valley include

OMEGA Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value of 800. The wo ...

, Breitling,

Corum Corum may refer to: People * Gene Corum (1921-2010), American football coach * James Corum, American military historian * Lora L. Corum (1899-1949), American racecar driver Places * Çorum, city in Turkey; capital of Çorum Province * Çorum Pr ...

, Gallet,

Girard-Perregaux Girard-Perregaux SA () is a luxury Swiss watch ''manufacture'' with its origins dating back to 1791. Since 2011, the Swiss holding group of Girard-Perregaux, Sowind Group, has been a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. Headquartered i ...

, A. Lange & Söhne,

Patek Philippe Patek Philippe SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer, located in the Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. Established in 1839, it is named after two of its founders, Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe. Since 1932, the company ha ...

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

TAG Heuer TAG Heuer S.A. ( ) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker that designs, manufactures and markets watches and fashion accessories, as well as eyewear and mobile phones manufactured under license by other companies and carrying the TAG Heuer brand name. Th ...

Blancpain Blancpain SA () is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, headquartered in Paudex/Le Brassus, Switzerland. It designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells prestige and luxury mechanical watches. Founded by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret, Switze ...

Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Nardin SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaking company founded in 1846 in Le Locle, Switzerland. The company became known for manufacturing highly accurate marine chronometers and complicated timepieces used by over 50 of the world's navies fro ...

Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard, is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by ...

Baume & Mercier Baume & Mercier () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1830. It is a subsidiary of the Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont. History Baume & Mercier was founded as "Frères Baume" in 1830 by brothers Louis-Victor and Célestin Baume, who op ...

, and others. Some of the earliest watchmakers to manufacture timepieces in the Watch Valley were

Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin SA () is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded in 1755. Since 1996, it has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group. Vacheron Constantin is the second oldest Swiss manufacturer and one of the oldest watch ...

(Est. 1755), Breguet (Est. 1775),

(*Est. 1735), Jaquet Droz (Est. 1738 in La Chaux-de-Fonds). Abraham-Louis Breguet played a great role in the advancement in Watch technology. In 1790 Breguet invented arguably the most important invention for watches to date. It was a shock-absorber known as the “para-chute” which helped prevent delicate parts in a Watch from breaking when dropped. This greatly improved the accuracy and dependability of watches at that time and paved the road to what we see in current timepieces. Honorable Mention: Favre-Leuba (Est. 1737 in Le Locle) was a mid-higher end range maker of Swiss watches. They used many different movements from A.Schild SA as well as calibers produced In-House. They worked with

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

Ebel Ebel is a Swiss luxury watch company that was founded in 1911 at La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. History Ebel was established in 1911 by Eugène Blum and his wife, Alice (née Lévy). The brand name originates from th ...

, and others to create a 36,000 VPH movement based on the A.Schild Caliber 1687. While the name is still being used on watches today they are not the same company as it succumbed to the

Quartz crisis The quartz crisis was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world.

and were forced to sell the company in the 1980’s. *While some argue Blancpain is the oldest watchmaker, they did have a brief period where production was stopped, while Vacheron did not. The distance across the watch Valley, traveling from Geneva to Basel, is approximately {{convert, 200, km, mi, sp=us.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Both

Le Locle Le Locle (; german: Luggli) is a Communes of Switzerland, municipality in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is situated in the Jura Mountains, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. It is the third smallest city in Switz ...

and its geographical twin town

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...

have now been recognised as an UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, for their horological and related cultural past.

Notes

External links

UNESCO World Heritage List: La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town PlanningFederation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
Switzerland Tourism

''juradreiseenland.ch'' Economy of Switzerland Horology Swiss Jura

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

See also

Notes

External links