Bienne - bugger! Mais La Chaux de Fonds - c'est formidable!

[Carlton-Browne]

Just had a business trip to Bern approved for the end of the week - Bienne/Biel is 26 minutes away by train. Rang them this morning and the Omega Museum is shut for the month of March for stocktaking.

Bugger :cry:

[Jonmurgie]

Oh that's just a pain!!

Would love to go have a poke about there :D

[Shakir Khaja]

What a crapper - would have been awesome to go to the museum...

[mr1973]

Does the name Edward Aloysius Murphy ring a bell? :?

[A.Pottinger]

Bad luck-sorry to hear that. Start working on another trip there-perhaps the upcoming one will necessitate a return?

Best wishes,
AP.

PS Try some of the others in the region, Chaux-de-Fonds may not take that long from Berne and there are some museums there, and there is a nice museum at the back of Bienne about watchmaking.

Best wishes,
AP.

[Dave in Wales]

Just had a business trip to Bern approved for the end of the week - Bienne/Biel is 26 minutes away by train. Rang them this morning and the Omega Museum is shut for the month of March for stocktaking.

Bugger :cry:

I bet you must be slightly peeved to say the least, I shure would be. :(

Dave

[boddah]

Sods law! :roll:

[Carlton-Browne]

The good news is that I was able to make the watch museum in La Chaux de Fonds on Saturday (many thanks A Pottinger for this suggestion). The museum is absolutely fabulous and I spent about 2 and a half hours looking around – and this was without spending a great deal of time looking at clocks. Apologies for the quality of the photos as I managed to leave my digital camera in blighty and had to make do with the camera phone. I would definitely recommend a trip to this museum though I think you would be better off with accommodation in somewhere more scenic – La Chaux de Fonds has the feel of being a fairly stolid working town.

It took just of an hour to get the train from Bern with a single change in Neuchatel. I got there early so managed a walk around town first. Couldn’t be bothered to walk up the hill but in the distance is the headquarters of Girard Perregaux.



And here is the office of Schwarz-Etienne.



There are a couple of antique watch dealers over the road from the museum, one of which had a CWC chronograph at a rather inflated price.


And then to the museum itself.



Most of the photos I seem to have taken are of transitional wristwatches


I particularly like this Universal Geneve


However I did also spot this 60mm Movado which predates the re-issued 60mm PAM by a couple of years.


Here we have a picture of the museum workshop.


I never did get to the bottom of what they do at the Centre des Aretes Bikini-Test but I’m sure it bears closer examination.


And finally an old bike in Bern

[abraxas]

.................



There are a couple of antique watch dealers over the road from the museum, one of which had a CWC chronograph at a rather inflated price.

...............

It's not a Cortebert either but a Cabot ... :wink:

Great thread, thanks for posting.

john

[magirus]

Excellent set of pics, thanks for sharing! :)

[VinceR]

Excellent set of pics, thanks for sharing! :)

+1 & makes me want to take some time out & visit ..

[Scottishtrunkmonkey]

Excellent stuff :)

We need Mike or ALex to investigate the bikini test facility and possibly organise a forum outing! :D

[mr1973]

Excellent stuff :)

We need Mike or ALex to investigate the bikini test facility and possibly organise a forum outing! :D

:lol: :lol: :lol: At your service. Anytime!

However, great post indeed. Would love to have such a workshop in my shed :)