World Heritage Photos

Watchmaking Towns La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle – The Ticking Twins of the Jura

La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning: The town La Chaux-de-Fonds and its sister city, Le Locle, are both situated in the Jura Mountains in Switzerland, approximately 66 km from Bern, the Swiss capital. The watchmaking industry was introduced to Le Locle in the 17th century by the self-taught watchmaker Daniel Jeanrichard. This visionary man encouraged the local farmers of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle to start manufacturing watch components for him during the long winters.

La Chaux-de-Fonds was completely destroyed by a fire in 1794; the town was rebuilt in a chessboard grid pattern. Le Locle was rebuilt following devastating fires in 1833 and 1844; taking La Chaux-de-Fonds as an example, it was also rebuilt in a chessboard grid pattern. This urban design was ideal for their role as watchmaking cities. Due to this town planning, the artisanal production of a cottage industry turned into the more concentrated factory production in the 19th and 20th centuries.

At the end of the 19th century, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle enjoyed great prosperity thanks to the watchmaking industry. This noted centre of the watchmaking industry is known as the Watch Valley. Karl Marx described La Chaux-de-Fonds as a 'huge factory town' in his famous work 'Das Kapital'. The town is also a renowned centre of Art Nouveau. The car manufacturer Louis Chevrolet and the widely known architect Le Corbusier were born in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1912, La Maison Blanche and La Villa Turque (Turkish Villa) were built in La Chaux-de-Fonds by Le Corbusier. La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.

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1. 

   The former town halll of Le Locle was built between 1839 and 1841. This building is decorated on the outside with frescoes and on the inside with tempera paintings. After devastating fires in the 18th and 19th centuries, the watchmaking towns of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle were rebuilt in a grid (chessboard) pattern. The open planning of the urban space has encouraged the continuous development of these Swiss towns from the 18th century until today.

2. 

   The Neo-Baroque Grande Fontaine in the factory town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. The monumental fountain dates back to 1888 and was the first decorative monument in the city. The landmark was built to commemorate the arrival of the first piped water in this Swiss clockmaking centre. The drinking water is brought to the fountain via an impressive underground piping system from the springs in the Areuse Gorge in the Jura, a sub-Alpine mountain range. 

3. 

   The Old Riding School in the watchmaking town of La Chaux-de-Fonds is known as L'Ancien Manège. The imposing manège is an enormous rectangular hall measuring 35 metres by 20 metres; it was inaugurated in 1857. The walls of the indoor courtyard of this former riding school are decorated with paintings in the Art Nouveau style (also known as Jugendstil). The courtyard and galleries are open to the public. The watchmaking towns of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.

4. 

   The covered courtyard of the Old Riding School (L'Ancien Manège) in the clockmaking town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Between 1867 and 1869, this former riding school was converted into a luxury residential complex with both apartments and family homes. In 1902, the interior courtyard was decorated with imitation marble and painted floral motifs. This historic building was completely renovated in 1985. Today, the building also houses a restaurant.

5. 

   The Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, widely known as the Le Locle Watch Museum, is located in the Château des Monts. This fascinating 18th-century estate houses an extraordinary collection of watches, clocks, and horological masterpieces, while its garden features several sundials and large sculptural clocks. he museum is located about a kilometer north of the center of Le Locle. This small town reflects the urban planning characteristic of this region, which is entirely shaped by the watchmaking industry.

6. 

   The interior of the Château des Monts in Le Locle. This stately mansion that was completed in 1790 and now houses a museum with an exceptional collection of watches and clocks. The elegant rooms offer a glimpse into the luxurious lifestyle of the 18th-century watch aristocracy, making it a perfect setting for these timeless masterpieces. Along with neighbouring factory town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, the smaller town of Le Locle developed into a world-renowned center of the Swiss watchmaking industry. 

7. 

   One of the clocks of the Le Locle Watch Museum; this renowned museum is known as Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle. The clock was created at the Technicum du Locle, today the Technicum Neuchâtelois, a prestigious watchmaking school. There is also a watch and horology museum in the nearby town of La Chaux-de-Fonds: the celebrated International Museum of Watchmaking (International Museum of Horology). It is also home to a widely renowned antique watchmaking restoration centre. The clockmaking tradition in Le Locle dates back to the late 17th century.

8. 

   La Villa Turque, also known as the Turkish Villa, is situated in the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. This artistic and renowned masterpiece was designed by the celebrated architect Le Corbusier in 1916 for the wealthy watchmaker Anatole Schwob, which is why the residence is also called Villa Schwob. The design for this extraordinary building was heavily influenced by the Ottoman architecture Le Corbusier saw during his travels through Turkey.

9. 

   The Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds is famous not only as a hub for watchmaking, but also as the place where Le Corbusier built his first indepented house. In 1912, at the age of 25, the man who would become a renowned architect and artist designed this hometown property for his parents: La Maison Blanche (White House). The mansion is also known as Villa Jeanneret-Perret. Le Corbusier was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris and lived in this house with his parents until he moved to Paris in 1917, where he adopted the pseudonym Le Corbusier in 1920.

10. 

    The church of Éplatures is a key landmark between the two watchmaking towns of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds. The church was built between 1847 and 1852. The upper part of its steeple was damaged by a severe storm in 2023. The tower was restored between 2024 and 2025 and, during this restoration process, it retained its original wooden skeleton. The Swiss watchmaking towns gained status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.