The Watch Museum of Le Locle ( French: Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle) is a municipal museum specializing in

horology Chronometry or horology () is the science studying the measurement of time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of standard measurements of time, which have applications in a broad range of social and scientific areas. ''Hor ...

, located in

Le Locle Le Locle (; ) 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 Switzerland (in Swit ...

Canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (; ; ; ) is a mostly French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel. History County of Neuchâtel ...

, Switzerland. It is open to the public. The museum is located in Château des Monts, a small historic country manor house about one kilometer north of the city center, on a hill. Most visitors combine a visit to this museum with the other world-class horological museum in the region the

Musée international d'horlogerie The International Museum of Horology, , is a horological museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. It is owned and operated by the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. History In 1865 the Watchmaking School of La Chaux-de-Fonds had the idea of putting ...

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

, a few kilometers further east.

Collection

The core of the museum collection is made up of several important legacies: *The Collection Maurice Yves Sandoz; the collection is particularly rich in Swiss-made

automaton An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...

s from the 18th and 19th century, many including mechanical music or singing bird automatons. *The Collection Henri Jeanmaire; the strength of this collection is the marquetry clock cases by Charles André Boulle in the

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

era. *The Collection Alfred Huguenin, focusing on the history of the Neuchâtel style pendule. In these three specialized areas of horological history, several of the exhibited pieces are among the best specimens globally that are on display to the public. On the ground floor there also is a highly concentrated comprehensive technical history of the

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

movement. The museum features also a small auditorium where a video presentation allows visitors to witness the exhibited

s in action. The park-like garden features several sundials and larger, sculptural clocks, including a replica of the Elephant clock of

al-Jazari Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206, , ) was a Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, artisan and artist from the Artuqid Dynasty of Jazira in Mesopotamia. He is best known for ...

. At most times there is at least one additional temporary exhibition on a horological theme. The museum has an excellent horological library, incorporating the research archives of the Swiss horological scholar and historian

Alfred Chapuis Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, and the former library of the French horological author

Tardy Tardiness is the habit of being late or delaying arrival. Being late as a form of misconduct may be formally Punishment, punishable in various arrangements, such as workplace, school, etc. An opposite personality Personality trait, trait is punct ...

. The library is open for horological scholars by appointment only.

Events

An biannual chronometry competition has been organized by the museum since 2009.Watch Museum of Le Locle: International Chronometry Contest 2009
on www.europastar.com, official website
International Chronometry Contest
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References

External links

Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts
(Website available in French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Musee d'Horlogerie du Locle Horological museums in Switzerland Le Locle Museums in the canton of Neuchâtel

Collection

Events

See also

References

Further reading

External links