The Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds

In 1974, while the watchmaking world was trying to read its future in a quartz crystal, the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds was unveiling a cite dedicated to watchmaking history: the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH). The building, designed by architects Pierre Zoelly and Georges-Jacques Haefeli, was immediately hailed as an event. A superb example of brutalist architecture and almost entirely buried in the ground, the museum is undeniably as discreet as its collections are rich. Its vast range, in terms of chronology and typology, and the care the founders took to make such an incredible heritage available to a wide public, position the institution among the world’s greatest museums dedicated to measuring time. By including a Centre for the restoration of antique watches as well as an academic mission with the Centre d’Études L’Homme et le Temps, the MIH far exceeds its sole purpose as a museum.