Watch Museum of Le Locle

The Watch Museum of Le Locle (

, Switzerland. It is open to the public.

The museum is located in a small historic country manor house, called 'Château des Monts', 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

, 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 automatons 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
  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 movement.

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

The park-like garden features several sundials and larger, sculptural clocks, including a replica of the

.

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

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

Events

An biannual chronometry competition was organized by the museum since 2009.^[1]

See also

• Horology

References

Bibliography

• NN (2008). "Bienvenue sur le site du Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle". Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
• NN (1987). Bicentenaire du Chateu des Monts 1987, Fasicule VII. Le Locle: Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts. p. 117.
• Mercier, Francois; Cardinale, Catherine (1993). Museums of Horology - La Chaux-de-Fons - Le Locle. Zurich: Swiss Institute of Art Research. p. 128.
  ISBN 3-908184-33-9
  .

External links

• Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts (Website available in French, German and English)

47°03′49″N 6°45′00″E / 47.0636°N 6.7499°E / 47.0636; 6.7499