Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle
Encyclopedia
The Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts is a municipal museum specializing in horology
, located in Le Locle
, Canton of Neuchâtel
, 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 Musée international d'horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds
, a few kilometers further east.
The core of the museum collection is made up of several important legacies:
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 Elephant clock
of al-Jazari
.
At most times there is at least one additional temporary exhibit on a horological theme.
The museum has an excellent horological library, incorporating the research archives of the Swiss horological scholar and historian Alfred Chapuis, and the former library of the French horological author Tardy
. The library is open for horological scholars by appointment only.
Horology
Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
, located in Le Locle
Le Locle
Le Locle is a municipality in the district of Le Locle 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....
, Canton of Neuchâtel
Canton of Neuchâtel
Neuchâtel is a canton of French speaking western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782 of which 39,654 were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel.-History:...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. 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 Musée international d'horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometres from the French border. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of...
, a few kilometers further east.
Collection
- The Collection Maurice Yves Sandoz, the collection is particularly rich in Swiss-made automatonAutomatonAn automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.-Etymology:...
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 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
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
movement
Movement (clockwork)
In horology, a movement is the internal mechanism of a clock or watch, as opposed to the case, which encloses and protects the movement, and the face which displays the time. The term originated with mechanical timepieces, whose movements are made of many moving parts...
.
The museum features also a small auditorium where a video presentation allows visitors to witness the exhibited automatons
Automatons
Automatons is a 2006 black-and-white horror film about a war against robots. The movie was made under the working title Death to the Automatons. Christine Spencer, Angus Scrimm, and Brenda Cooney star. John Levene, Don Wood and Executive Producer Larry Fessenden have supporting roles...
in action.
The park like garden features several sundials and larger, sculptural clocks, including a replica of the Elephant clock
Elephant clock
The elephant clock was a medieval islamic invention by al-Jazari , consisting of a weight powered water clock in the form of an elephant. The various elements of the clock are in the housing on top of the elephant...
of al-Jazari
Al-Jazari
Abū al-'Iz Ibn Ismā'īl ibn al-Razāz al-Jazarī was a Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, craftsman, artist, mathematician and astronomer from Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia, who lived during the Islamic Golden Age...
.
At most times there is at least one additional temporary exhibit on a horological theme.
The museum has an excellent horological library, incorporating the research archives of the Swiss horological scholar and historian Alfred Chapuis, and the former library of the French horological author Tardy
Tardy
Tardy means to be late, slow, or sluggish.* A form of misconductAs a surname, Tardy may refer to:* Donald Tardy , American drummer* Gregory Tardy , American jazz saxophonist...
. The library is open for horological scholars by appointment only.
External links
- http://www.mhl-monts.ch/fr/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=1Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts (Website available in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
)]