Espace Horloger de la Vallée de Joux

About the museum

The Espace Horloger is located in Le Sentier in the former Zénith manufactory (founded 1917), which LeCoultre used from 1927. The museum was founded in 1994 and opened in 1996 as the first public watch museum in the canton of Vaud. It belongs to the Association of Museums of Switzerland and sees itself as a guardian of the region’s tangible and intangible watchmaking heritage.

The museum has two permanent exhibitions: the Gideon collection guides visitors through timekeeping at European courts from the 16th to the 19th century with table and travel clocks, Gothic and planetary clocks, and illusion clocks. The Vallée de Joux exhibition explains how the valley’s inhabitants developed their craft out of farmer-watchmaking up to the great complications such as minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar and moon phase. This is complemented by loans from the Technical School of the Vallée de Joux and from brands such as Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet.

A media area with hands-on stations, the Albert Jean collection of Comtoise clocks and a cinema with a twelve-minute film on 250 years of watchmaking round off the visit. Thanks to its close connection with the Technical School, the museum also sees itself as a place for nurturing young talent.

Highlights

• Gideon collection with table, travel and illusion clocks from the 16th to 19th century
• Complications of the Vallée de Joux: repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar
• Film “Les rouages de l’harmonie” on 250 years of watchmaking
• Hands-on area with Ludotemps and a watchmaker’s workbench
• Albert Jean collection of Comtoise clocks

Permanent exhibitions

• Sammlung Gideon – Table and travel clocks, Gothic and planetary clocks and illusion clocks from the 16th to 19th century, from the interiors of European nobility and the upper middle class.
• Ausstellung Vallée de Joux – Mechanical complications such as minute repeater, tourbillon and perpetual calendar, and the history of watchmaking in the valley as the cradle of the great complications.
• Espace Métiers et Médiation – Interactive digital tables, Ludotemps stations for assembling mechanical watch movements, a watchmaker’s workbench and the Albert Jean Comtoise collection.

Founded

1994

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Every first Wednesday of the month (not for guided tours and groups of 10 or more)

Free admission with the discount card from Raiffeisen, ICOM and AMS (Association of Museums of Switzerland). Payment in CHF by cash, credit card (except American Express) or Twint; euros are not accepted.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is fully accessible to visitors with reduced mobility; a wheelchair and portable stools can be borrowed at the ticket desk (subject to availability). Only assistance dogs are permitted in the building.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations

In the mediation area, children make origami, paint or draw comics; at the Ludotemps stations they assemble the wheels of a mechanical watch themselves. Admission is free on the first Wednesday of every month.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in the village of Le Sentier, opposite the sports centre.

Amenities & dining

• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

There is no restaurant in the museum; shops and restaurants are about five minutes away on foot or by car. Boutique and bookshop in the building; cloakroom and lockers in front of the entrance.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit