• 
• 

Published on March 29, 2008

Just an hour down the road from Geneva and only two hours by train from Zurich, the pleasant city of Neuchatel has long been a popular place

to wile away the time. Though it's on the banks of Switzerland's largest lake and surrounded by vineyards, the town - and surrounding canton of the same name - is famous for one thing: watchmaking. Neuchatel's Val de Travers district is home to some of the best-known names in the business.

The canton's craftsmen have honed their know-how over the past couple of decades, keeping up with research and development and attracting such big names as Rolex, Cartier, Bvlgari, Chopard, Parmigiani Fleurier and Hautlence to the municipalities of Motiers, Fleurier, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle.

It seems that everyone in the region is caught in the gears of the watch business.

"Either they work in the industry or they have a family member in the watch-crafting business," explains Christian Barbier, a native Neuchatelois who works as sales director for Parmigiani Fleurier.

"They grow up with a passion for watchmaking. People here lead a peaceful and quiet life - watchmakers aren't used to living in the big city. For them, having to spend one hour driving to work would be far too long. Their whole lives are in this region."

And it's easy to understand why the watchmakers are so satisfied with their working environment. To the north, the landscape is dominated by the magnificent Jura Mountains while the southern vista offers a panoramic view of Lake Neuchatel, early Gothic chateaux, colourful chalets and pine trees. With 62 communities, this French-speaking canton has a total population of just 168,000 inhabitants.

No visit to Neuchatel is complete without a stop at its Art and History Museum to see the star attraction, the three mechanical figurines - a scribe, an artist and a musician - built by Neuchatelois watchmaker Jacquet-Droz in the 1770s. The trio are still in perfect working order today, brought to life in a demonstration every first Sunday of the month.

Also worth seeing is the International Watchmaking Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds. With more than 4,500 exhibits, including 2,700 watches and 700 clocks, the museum is the world centre for the tradition of timekeeping. Visitors can pause to admire the most outstanding pieces on their journey through the history of time's measurement.

From there, head to the Regional History and Handicrafts Museum in Moitiers to admire its record of the everyday life and industry of centuries past in Val de Travers. Highlights are clockmaker and farmer Albert Bernet's workshop and the famous Chinese watches made in Fleurier 150 years ago.

Bernet's tools are still being used today by such top restorers as Michel Parmigiani, founder of Parmigiani Fleurier. His family knew the Bernets, and when the new generation of self-winding watches penetrated the market less than a decade ago, the young Michel decided the time had come to develop his own independent label and manufacturing workshops.

"The Swiss watchmaking industry was in terrible shape back then and a lot of watchmakers were unemployed. We appeared to be lost but I knew the passion to create valuable and high-quality timepieces was still there. We should never despair," he said at the launch of Parmigiani Fleurier's limited edition One-One-Five Chronograph and the Pearshing line last month in Ancona, Italy .

Parmigiani remains true to the essence of fine watchmaking and has passed his passion for restoration on to many young jewellers and craftsmen.

Olivier Eggenschwiler, 23, has always dreamed of becoming a watchmaker. Apart from the good salary, he says the job is often fascinating and never boring.

"After graduating from a watchmakers' college, I worked as an apprentice for six years, It's wonderful to be able to bring antique clocks back to life."

Eggenschwiler adds that he couldn't imagine living anywhere other than his home canton of Neuchatel.

True, it's quiet but it does have more to offer the visitor than just watchmaking. The food is also terrific, with fish dished up fresh from the lake. Among the must-tries on Hotel Palafitte's menu are the fillet of pike perch with pine kernels and grapes on sweet and sour pumpkin, and the fillet of sole with dried tomatoes and basil.

And for those with a sweet tooth, Neuchatel's speciality shops offer a range of superb gourmet chocolate confections.

Kupluthai Pungkanon

The Nation