The most reputable Swiss watch brands are based in a small isolated valley in the heart of the Swiss Jura, in a territory where the number of jobs exceeds the number of inhabitants. Welcome to the Vallée de Joux, a timeless place that has slowly established itself as a must-see territory dedicated to watchmaking.

The Vallée de Joux, a unique territory in the world

Between mountains and pastures, between hills and coniferous forests, lies a steep valley, with such harsh winters as Vaudois Siberia: the Vallée de Joux. Here, over a territory of a few kilometers long, came into the world some of the most famous timepieces factories on the planet: Audemars-Piquet and Jaeger-LeCoultre. If they are still there, others have been added to the list, such as Breguet, Blancpain, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, especially during the industrialization of watchmaking at the end of the 19th century. And for good reason: for more than two centuries, no one can argue in the Vallée de Joux its character of “cradle of high-end mechanical watchmaking”, a title she proudly displays.

This prosperity, the Vallée de Joux paradoxically owes its extreme isolation. Two centuries ago, the whole valley was cut off from the world during the winter season, because of the cold weather and the snow in abundance. Enclosed between four walls, the inhabitants, who devoted their good months to the work of the fields, began to design and manufacture timepieces, which they then traded in the rest of the country – once the good days returned.

Watchmaking, in the heart of this deep valley, is much more than a mere trade: it is a heritage know-how, forged inside the workshops of the craftsmen of yesteryear, whose manufactures worldwide famous are the heirs. An experience passed down from father to son, with a precision that is matched only by the accuracy of the gestures needed to make clocks and watches. A virtuosity that has nourished even the facades of the buildings themselves, whose architecture is so reminiscent of timepieces.

For this reason, a large part of the 7,000 jobs in the Vallée de Joux (for 6,600 inhabitants), in particular occupied by a border labor force (some 4,000 French people travel every day to work), turn the production and assembly workshops of the most expensive watches on the planet.

The watch attractions of Vallée de Joux

In addition to watchmaking factories in the Vallée de Joux, fans of timepieces and precision mechanisms can take advantage of the two major attractions of this small area: the watchmaking area and the watchmaking initiation center.

In the town of the Sentier, the Espace Horlogerie de la Vallée de Joux welcomes both connoisseurs and neophytes. The museum is nestled inside a building built in 1917 at the request of the Zénith house, bought by the City in 1979 and transformed, thanks to the teachers of the Technical School, into a nest for the Watchmaking Space in 1996. Since then, the main watchmaking attraction of the territory offers visitors unpublished presentations of the history of Swiss and world watchmaking, its various professions, the secrets of watch design, all using innovative and interactive supports that embody the educational will of the place. It is also a way for the Espace Horloger to assert its personality, not in competition, but in addition to the many museums and historical sites devoted to watchmaking that abound in the Jura arc.

In an old watchmaking farm, carefully restored, one enters the watchmaking initiation center. Inside, its founder, an independent manufacturer named Olivier Piguet, aims to open up watchmaking knowledge to the all-comers, starting by revealing the heart of watches to the public. During this initiatory journey to the deepest secrets of the trade, visitors are invited to dismantle and reassemble a complete mechanical watch movement. The opportunity to discover the thousand and one subtleties of its operation through an educational approach that addresses all, not just seasoned connoisseurs. All in a picturesque place with the scent of legend.

Thanks to its watchmaking attractions and its still active workshops, the Vallée de Joux has maintained its status as a world reference in watchmaking – without ever losing time.