If You Have Time in Switzerland, Make Time for These Watch Museums

From the moment I arrived in Geneva, the Swiss reputation for watchmaking became inescapable. Elegant signs for luxury watches greet the arriving travelers walking from their plane through the corridor to customs and baggage. Shops throughout the city offer temptations to purchase all kinds of watches from an elegant Rolex to a colorful Swatch. Trains arrive precisely on the scheduled minute displayed by the huge Mondaine clocks which hang prominently in all the train stations above the train platforms. And, a sightseeing tour of Geneva would be incomplete without a visit to the famous Horloge Fleurie, the flower clock made from some 6,500 colorful plants covering its 16-foot-wide surface. As this route through the Swiss watchmaking industry continued, I visited two magnificent museum collections.

When I entered the Patek Philippe Museum (www.patekmuseum.com), I immediately felt underdressed for the occasion in my casual jeans and orange fleece jacket. Also, my feeling toward the Seiko watch on my wrist would never be the same. The museum reminded me of the jeweler’s shop where you are seen by appointment only. The jeweler unlocks the door to let you enter and security quietly watches from a discrete distance. The same feels true at the Museum where it seems like a privilege to enter and security is nearby, but nothing is for sale. The contents housed here are priceless today.

On four elegant floors linked by a grand stairway, the museum displays large collections of Genevan, Swiss, and European horological art, enamels, music boxes, and portrait miniatures dating from the 16^th to 19^th centuries. Exhibits feature creations from Patek Philippe, one of Geneva’s more venerable watchmaking companies. The collection in the Patek Philippe Museum can only be described as jeweled masterpieces. As, I wandered around, I felt appreciation for the complicated innards of the watches, reverence for the intricate lifelike portrait miniatures, and amazement at the moving parts of the music boxes. Transfixed, I continued to return to one particular watch pendant. I was drawn hypnotically to see the delicate opal casement and enjoy the play of shimmering colors characteristic of my favorite stone, the opal. It was the one priceless piece that I will forever desire as my own. Photos are not permitted in the Museum so I have pictures to post to this blog. Let me simply say that this museum is worth seeing; and if you visit, dress a bit nicer than I did.

It is precisely a one-hour and fifty-seven minute train trip from Geneva to La Chaux-de-Fonds (www.chaux-de-fonds.ch), Switzerland’s highest city rising at 1,000 meters in the Jura Mountains. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city in the French-speaking part of the country. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, La Chaux-de-Fonds became the center of the Swiss watchmaking industry. Today, this city has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its horological culture and related town planning of intermingled housing and watchmaking workshops. The city is also home to the second museum worth taking time to visit. The International Museum of Watch Making, with a local name the Musée International d’Horlogerie (www.mih.ch ), is a showcase for the history of timekeeping arts. The museum houses over 4,500 exhibits, including 2,700 watches and 700 wall clocks. It is considered to be among the most comprehensive watch and clock museums in the world.

The unusual assortment of clocks impressed me the most about the International Museum of Watch Making. Each design tested the limits of imagination and innovation. Clocks not only give the hour, but tracked astrological positions of stars. A sundial when reaching a certain hour fired miniature cannon. Ornate mantel clocks held cameos and golden sculptures of cranes. Smaller watches of gold and encased with jewels were once a wealthy person’s proud possession of artistic perfection. And, outside the chiming of a 20^th century carillon clock made me wonder about the marvelous mechanical innovations to come in Swiss watchmaking.

Photography is permitted in this Museum without use of a flash. So, here’s a sample of the numerous treasures I captures during my visit.

Patek Philippe Museum

7 rue des Vieux-Grenadines

Plainpalais

Geneva, Switzerland

Musée International d’Horlogerie

Rue des Musëes 29

La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

The Olympic Museum: Don't Ask Me to Do A Jumping Jack

In gym class, I could never get the rhythm of the synchronized jumping jacks. I ducked every time a softball came across the plate when it was my turn to bat. And, my pitiful volleyball serve lost many points for the blue team. When it became fashionable to join a fitness club, I reluctantly signed up and joined the beginner aerobics class. As in school, I bounced to my own embarrassing rhythm in the first class and never returned. I joined a 5K charity event once and finished with the moms with small children in tow. My kids were with their Dad that weekend, so that’s no excuse. I just could not keep pace with the weekend athletes. I now accept my athletic shortcomings which is why I am in awe of persons who can athletically excel.

I remember several years ago, Fred Newhouse served on the Extend the View capital campaign committee for Prairie View A&M University. I was the external campaign consultant, a Senior Consultant for Ketchum. He brought something special to the meeting – his Olympic Gold Medal. Fred won the Gold in the 1976 Track & Field 4x400m Men’s Relay. I asked to hold it. Fred placed the Olympic Gold gently in the palm of my hand. I will never forget that special moment.

Throughout my career as a campaign consultant, I met two other Olympic champions. Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines served as chief fundraiser for USA Swimming when I consulted on their campaign to launch a fundraising initiative. He claimed three Gold Medals in 1984 for the USA in Swimming. This same association introduced me to Dara Torres. She participated in her first Olympic Swimming competition in 1984 when she was 17 years old. In total, Dara went to the Olympics five times – most recently in 2008 at age 41. She is an amazing women and admirable athlete who won a total of 11 Olympic Swimming Medals: four Gold, three Silver, and four Bronze.

My career caused my life to be touched by each of these Olympic stars. And similarly, my career brought me to Switzerland within reach of a place I probably would not have otherwise visited. On a rainy gray day, my husband Ed and I took the train from Geneva to Lausanne. Our destination was The Olympic Museum.

The same feeling of enchantment that struck me while holding Fred’s Gold Medal came over me again when I saw the Olympic Fire outside the museum. I felt intense emotions seeing this flame which to me represents the tradition of the Olympic flame, human strength, and determination. Perhaps that is why I lingered most on Level 0 of the museum where the flame torches of past Olympic relays are displayed. This same area traces the ancient history of the games through the Olympic Movement to the organization of the Olympic Games today. All fascinating when you consider the passion that has sustained throughout the ages for the Olympic Games.

Exhibits of Summer and Winter Games show the evolution of skis, sleds, and clothing used in the games. An interactive screen let me search for the results of Fred, Rowdy, and Dara. Results I already knew. Another display held treasured examples of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals from past Olympic events. And, perhaps the closest I will ever come to riding in a bobsled was the video of a ride that almost made me feel like I was part of the team. I watched it three times.

After experiencing the Olympic Museum, I recommend it to all. There’s a restaurant with a rooftop terrace overlooking Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps. Photos are permitted. Admission was reasonable. Jumping jacks are not necessary.

The Olympic Museum

Quai d’ Ouchy 1-CP

1001 Lausanne

Switzerland

www.olympic.org