Discover how the first time-measuring instruments worked and build your own water clock!

The aim of this workshop is to give young visitors the chance to build a clepsydra, a fully functional water clock. The clepsydra measures the passage of time, rather like a stopwatch, and can be used to calculate the time needed to brush your teeth every day or to read a bedtime story.

After building the object, the children are invited to take a short guided tour of the museum on the same theme.

The children leave with their clepsydra. Please bring a bag for transport, as the clepsydras are quite bulky.

This workshop can be organised at any time upon prior request to the museum secretariat, who will be happy to answer your questions on +41 32 967 68 61 or by email at info@mih.ch.

Registration required

It’s not always easy to decipher watch dials! In this workshop, the MIH invites you to make a pretty, colourful dial that will help you learn how to tell the time!

The aim of this workshop is to introduce young children to analogue time telling.

Using stencils and their imagination, they will make a coloured dial to which they will attach two hands that they will be able to operate.

What is a dial? Why is there a long hand and a short one? An hour, a minute, a second – what are they really?

These are just some of the questions we’ll be tackling to introduce our youngest visitors to the notion of time passing.

The workshop is followed by a guided tour of the museum, giving a colourful overview of the different display systems. Children go home with their own colourful clock face.

This workshop is available at any time on request from the museum secretariat, who will be happy to answer your questions on +41 32 967 68 61 or by email at info@mih.ch.

Registration required

The year 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the International Watchmaking Museum in its current building. Time and music will come together in 9 concerts, in harmony with all styles, thanks to the talent and creativity of the teachers at the century-old Collège musical.

AMERICAN SWING

FROM GERSHWIN TO BERNSTEIN

Duo 69: Anthony di Giantomasso and Corinne Fischer, pianos

Dates of forthcoming concerts: 27 April, 15 June, 28 September, 26 October, 23 November, 14 December.

The concerts last around 45 minutes and are followed by an aperitif.

The City of La Chaux-de-Fonds, the management of the Musée international d’horlogerie, the Board of the Fondation Maurice Favre and the Comité des amisMIH are pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition Brut. 50 ans d’un écrin monumental and to the presentation of the Museum’s New Acquisitions.

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Musée international d’horlogerie’s (MIH) move into its current building, carved into the side of the Parc des musées in La Chaux-de-Fonds. A tribute to this achievement, the exhibition recounts the encounter between watchmaking, museology and architecture. It showcases the spirit in which the MIH came into being, and the bold choices made by its architects and museographers to showcase the world’s most significant watch collection.

The opening of this exhibition will be held in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition NEW ACQUISITIONS 2023.

An aperitif will follow the presentation of the new exhibitions.

Each year, the MIH presents an exhibition devoted to recent acquisitions. Donations received from generous donors and pieces purchased with the support of MIH friends provide an exciting opportunity to discover how the world’s most significant watch collection is being enriched.

The year 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the International Watchmaking Museum in its current building. Time and music will come together in 9 concerts, in harmony with all styles, thanks to the talent and creativity of the teachers at the century-old Collège musical.

JAZZ SPHERE

IMPROVISATIONS: Samuel Blaser, trombone Yannick Oppliger and Vincent Boillat, drums.

Dates of forthcoming concerts: 24 February, 23 March, 27 April, 15 June, 28 September, 26 October, 23 November, 14 December.

The 45-minute concerts are followed by an aperitif.

To kick off the year of the 50th anniversary of the MIH building, the Amuse-Bar has put together two blind test-quizzes on the year 1974.

This first 2024 edition of the Museum Afterworks sets the scene for the festivities that the MIH will be offering throughout the year to mark the 50th anniversary of its move to the Museum Park.

In addition to the museum’s free late opening until 8pm, the professionals at the Amuse-Bar, next door to the MIH, have concocted two crazy, interactive Blind-Test-Quizzes on the year 1974.

It’s a fun way to revive the memories of people in their fifties and beyond, and to provide the essential references that will enable the generations of the ’80s and beyond to discover this era of great change.

First Sunday of each month, the association for Friends of the Musée international d’horlogerie (amisMIH) offers a free guided tour to those who are interested in discovering the treasures of the MIH. This tour is included in entry to the museum (free from October to March; fee applies from April to September).

Around fifty watch and clock traders, antique dealers and collectors will be selling watches, clocks, tools, books and miscellaneous horological objects. 

On this occasion, 3 free guided tours will be offered:

12:00 pm: Tour in French.
2:00 pm: One tour in French and one in German.