The Uhrenmuseum Beyer (Beyer

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 b ...

and

Clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...

Museum) is located in the heart of the city of

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

, Switzerland, and is one of the world's leading private

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

s dedicated to

horology Horology (; related to Latin '; ; , interfix ''-o-'', and suffix ''-logy''), . is the study of the measurement of time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, hourglasses, clepsydras, timers, time recorders, marine chronometers, and atomic clo ...

. The museum is located on the lower level of

Bahnhofstrasse Bahnhofstrasse is Zürich's main downtown street and one of the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues. In 2011, a study named the ''Bahnhofstrasse'' the most expensive street for retail property in Europe, and the third most expens ...

31, the main shopping boulevard. It is affiliated with Beyer Watches & Jewellery , a high-grade watch retailer run by the same family for eight generations. The core of the museum was acquired during the life of Theodore 'Teddy' Beyer, a pioneer in collecting antique timekeepers. The collection is made up of premechanical timekeepers (sundials, sandglasses, water and fire clocks) as well as clocks and watches from around the world and covering all eras. Pendule Sympathique

The collection is particularly strong regarding early clocks and watches, including several pieces from the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

and

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

era, as well as complicated pieces with many complications. Many of the displayed pieces are unique and/or significant in the history of watchmaking, and therefore are often loaned out to major museums around the world. The collection includes one of the early

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or in the modern ...

s by

Ferdinand Berthoud Ferdinand Berthoud (born 18 March 1727, in Plancemont-sur-Couvet, Principality of Neuchâtel; died 20 June 1807, in Groslay, Val d'Oise), was a scientist and watchmaker. He became master watchmaker in Paris in 1753. Berthoud, who held the posi ...

, a pendule sympathique by Breguet, a pocket watch with astronomical indications by Auch, several bespoke late 20th century watches by George Daniels, one of the few reproductions of the

astrarium An astrarium, also called a planetarium, is the mechanical representation of the cyclic nature of astronomical objects in one timepiece. It is an astronomical clock. History Greek and Roman World The first astraria were mechanical devices. Archi ...

by De Dondi to name just a few highlights. Furthermore, there are superb

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

made enameled

pocket watch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristw ...

es, and a most instructive timeline illustrating the history of the Neuchâtel pendule. Additionally there is a good small display of locally made clocks and watches including such Zurich makers as Bachoffner, Liechti and Ochsner.

References

*Beyer, Theodore (author): ''The Museum of Time Measurement Beyer Zurich'', Verlag Calley, Munich, 1982, *Beyer, Rene (au & Meiss, Reinhard (authors): ''Uhrenmuseum Beyer Zurich, Antike Uhren, Neuerwerbungen'', Verlag Calley, Munich, 1982,

External links

Uhrenmusem Beyer, Zurich
{{Authority control Horological museums in Switzerland Museums in Zürich

See also

References

External links