The secluded and remote Vallée de Joux in the mountains of the Swiss Jura is home to some of the most famous brands in watchmaking.
Horlogerie
Text: Kaspar Meuli
T
he best way to get to the Vallée de Joux would actually be on foot. It’s surely the perfect way to appreciate just how secluded this high valley in the Swiss Vaud is at 1000 m above sea level, surrounded by dense forests and windswept mountain ranges. But our journey takes place on a spring day, when the valley of the watchmakers is once more bathed in sunshine. Sitting on the terrace of the Sur les Quais café in Le Pont, it seems like a Nordic seaside town, where time has stood still. A few walkers pass the time under the festoon of lights on the promenade, while in the background on the distant Lac de Joux, a solitary yacht charts its course. But our destination is another 20 km further, at the other end of the lake. Here, world-famous watch brands including Breguet, Blancpain, JaegerLeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin are housed among a few nondescript villages such as L’Orient, Le Brassus and Le Sentier. Take for example Audemars Piguet, where we meet the watch historian Sébastian Vivas. At the Manufacture, founded in 1875, he fulfills the role of Heritage and Museum Director. “What exactly”, we ask this eloquent connoisseur of watchmaking history, “distinguishes the cultural heritage of the Vallée de Joux?” “We produce objects that are anachronistic from a technical point of view,” says Sébastian Vivas, “but in a world
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