Watch museums and manufactures to visit

Seeing watches in person is the best way to understand craftsmanship, rarity and history. Each page below explains the museum's history, what you can see and how to visit. Opening hours and prices change, so always check the official website before you go.

Switzerland

• Bern Historical Museum (Bernisches Historisches Museum)Museum · Bern, Switzerland

  The Bern Historical Museum on Helvetiaplatz is described by Switzerland Tourism as one of the country's most important museums of cultural history, with a collection of about 500,000 objects. It also houses the Einstein Museum.

• Beyer Clock and Watch Museum (Uhrenmuseum Beyer), ZurichMuseum · Zurich, Switzerland

  The Beyer Clock and Watch Museum shows almost 4,000 years of timekeeping, from an Egyptian water clock to modern quartz, in more than 250 objects. Opened in 1971 beneath the Beyer store on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, it closes on October 30, 2026 and is due to reopen in fall 2027 at a new site.

• IWC Schaffhausen MuseumBrand museum · Schaffhausen, Switzerland

  The IWC Museum in Schaffhausen opened in 1993 to mark the company's 125th anniversary and is housed in the historic building of the manufacture on the Rhine. More than 230 selected exhibits trace the history of IWC from its American founder to its multifunctional watches.

• Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture and Atelier d'Antoine in Le SentierManufacture visit · Le Sentier, Switzerland

  Jaeger-LeCoultre has been based in Le Sentier in the Vallée de Joux since Antoine LeCoultre set up his workshop there in the 1830s. Under the name Atelier d'Antoine, launched in 2020, the manufacture offers guided visits and hands-on watchmaking experiences for the public.

• Longines Museum in Saint-ImierBrand museum · Saint-Imier, Switzerland

  The Longines Museum is located at the brand's historic site in Saint-Imier, where Longines has been based since 1832. Visits take the form of guided tours in French, German or English, which must be booked in advance.

• The Jaquet-Droz Automata at the Musée d'art et d'histoire, NeuchâtelArt museum · Neuchâtel, Switzerland

  The Musée d'art et d'histoire de Neuchâtel (MahN) is home to the three Jaquet-Droz automata, built in La Chaux-de-Fonds between 1768 and 1774. The museum calls them the jewel of its collections and demonstrates them to the public on the first Sunday of each month.

• MB&F M.A.D.Gallery, GenevaGallery · Geneva, Switzerland

  The M.A.D.Gallery on Rue Verdaine in Geneva's old town is the gallery of the independent watch brand MB&F, opened in 2011 by founder Maximilian Büsser. It presents MB&F's Machines alongside kinetic and mechanical art by other creators, making it a hybrid of brand space and art gallery.

• Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Le BrassusBrand museum · Le Brassus, Switzerland

  The Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet opened in 2020 in Le Brassus, the Vallée de Joux village where the manufacture has been based since 1875. It links the house where the founders started their business with a spiral-shaped glass pavilion by Bjarke Ingels Group and shows about 300 watches.

• Musée international d'horlogerie (MIH), La Chaux-de-FondsMuseum · La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

  The Musée international d'horlogerie (MIH) in La Chaux-de-Fonds describes its holdings as the world's most significant collection devoted to the history of time measurement. Owned and run by the city, it holds about 10,000 objects in a largely underground building opened in 1974.

• OMEGA Museum in Biel/BienneBrand museum · Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

  The OMEGA Museum presents the history of Omega on the first floor of the Cité du Temps in Biel/Bienne, a building designed by Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban. Admission is free, and the exhibition combines historical watches with films and interactive installations.

• Patek Philippe Museum, GenevaBrand museum · Geneva, Switzerland

  The Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, opened in 2001, presents around 2,500 watches, automata, precious objects and miniature enamel portraits spanning more than 500 years. The collection reflects the passion of Philippe Stern, honorary president of the manufacture.

• Planet Swatch: The Swatch Museum in Biel/BienneBrand museum · Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

  Planet Swatch is the Swatch brand museum on the second floor of the Cité du Temps in Biel/Bienne, a building designed by Shigeru Ban. It shows several thousand Swatch watches, from the earliest models to the most recent, and admission is free.

• Vacheron Constantin Maison on Quai de l'Île, GenevaBrand museum · Geneva, Switzerland

  The Vacheron Constantin Maison at 7 Quai de l'Île is the brand's historic address in Geneva, the city where Jean-Marc Vacheron founded the company in 1755. Switzerland Tourism describes a heritage area on its first floor with exhibitions, historic tools and archives.

• Zenith Manufacture in Le Locle: The Public TourManufacture visit · Le Locle, Switzerland

  Zenith has made watches on the same site in Le Locle, in the Swiss Jura, since Georges Favre-Jacot founded the company there in 1865. The brand describes itself as the first watch manufacture to open its original site to the public, with a weekly public tour.

Outside Switzerland

• Centre Pompidou – Musée national d'art moderne, ParisArt museum · Paris, France

  The Centre Pompidou in Paris houses the Musée national d'art moderne, described as the largest museum of modern and contemporary art in Europe. Its design collection includes Swatch watches such as "Deux amoureux" by Valerio Adami, and the museum and Swatch have worked together since 1985.

• Museum for Islamic Art (L. A. Mayer), JerusalemMuseum · Jerusalem, Israel

  The L. A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem, established in 1974, is known for its collection of Islamic art from Spain to India. For watch enthusiasts it is famous for the Salomons collection of clocks and watches, including the Breguet "Marie Antoinette" watch, which was stolen in 1983 and recovered more than two decades later.

• National Archaeological Museum, AthensMuseum · Athens, Greece

  The National Archaeological Museum in Athens holds major collections of ancient Greek art and artifacts, from Neolithic and Mycenaean finds to classical sculpture. For anyone interested in the history of timekeeping it is the home of the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient geared astronomical device.