A visit to Beyer’s Clock and Watch Museum in Zurich

Underneath Zurich’s famous Bahnhofstrasse lies one of the most important Clock and Watch collections in the world. The Beyer Clock and Watch Museum are located at Beyer Uhren und Juwelen, probably the oldest fine jewelry store in the world, which has been run by the same family, now in the 8^th generation, since 1760.

The Beyer family’s collection records the history of timekeeping since Ancient Egypt, including a beautiful copy of a water clock given to the museum by the British Museum. Covering around 3400 years of watchmaking history, the museum successfully presents developments and curiosities of all types.

The Egyptian water clock, ca. 1425 – 1380 B.C

The exhibits show how during the last centuries and even millennia, the people strived to find a better a more precise way to measure time, setting no limits in mechanics, ingenuity or design. During a visit to the Beyer Museum, you will be able to admire different materials used in watchmaking, as the Davoser Clock completely made out of wood.

Wooden Clock made in Davos, Switzerland, ca. 1786

Other pieces illustrate how people not only tried to measure time but also the position of the stars or the moon phases.

Table Clock with Planetarium, ca. 1770

BBVA in Switzerland choices:

• A clock tower mechanism built by Hans Luter(er) in Thurbental, Switzerland, 1522, as it is fascinating to see a movement work on large scale.

• Sir Edmund Hilary’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual wore during the expedition to climb the Mt. Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. It is said that it was this watch was the inspiration for Rolex’s successful Explorer line.

The museum is opened weekdays between 14.00 and 18.00. If you are not able to attend or want to get more information before coming to Zurich, you can Visit the Museum’s homepage or watch Mr. Rene Beyer passionately talk about his personal watch collection.

The pictures were kindly made available to us by the Museum.