Biel/Bienne, population 55,000, straddles the line separating the French-speaking part of Switzerland from the German-speaking. Back in 2005 the city officially changed its name to Biel/Bienne. All street names in Biel/Bienne are in two languages. The sign above reads: Water Street. In German it's Wasserstrasse and French, Route de l'Eau.
So, the reason I'm here is to check out Swatch Group's new, unusual-looking head office. It was built two years ago at a cost of several hundred million dollars and has been described as an elongated honeycomb. The 250,000 square foot building is also one of the world's largest timber structures. My first reaction: What were they thinking! During my years of travels I've seen quite a few of these honeycomb structures and they don't age well.
The right end of the structure has scaffolding all over it meaning they're doing repairs.
What happens is the color of the panes start to fade AND, rain plus the elements invariably cause black streaks running down the panes. Jeez, why didn't they consult me?
The honeycomb structure connects to this new five-story building. Notice the wood Swiss crosses on the ceiling. Above the "lip" is the office of CEO Nick Hayek Jr., who has been the big boss since 2003 and the guy who signed off on building this place. The Swatch Group, with over $8 billion in revenues and over 36,000 employees, is the world's largest manufacturer of watches. Brands include Omega, Longines, Harry Winston, Blancpain to name a few. Though publicly-traded, the Hayek family controls more than 39% of the shares.
To the left of the new building you can see an older building--that's part of Omega's headquarters complex.
This sign directs you to Swatch's drive-thru store.
This is the store.
So, just like a fast-food drive-thru you pull up to the speaker.
You check out the "menu" (watches) and then place your order.
Going inside the store and I ask the cashier "are people really that lazy that they can't come inside?". She laughs and says what people usually do is come inside, check out the watches and then get back in their car and use the drive-thru to take "selfies" with their purchases". Notice on the back wall all the Big Mac-like containers. Pretty clever.
If you collect Swatches, did you know there are Swatches that can only be bought in Switzerland? Here they are.
On the second floor of the five-story building where Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek hangs his hat is the Swatch museum. It's free. Since its inception in 1983 Swatch has produced 9,154 distinct watches. On display here are 6,234 of 'em.
What's with the bike? You pedal and the display case rotates.
A display of giant size Swatches.
I snapped the picture of Swatch's head office from the Swatch museum.
This is part of Omega's museum on the third floor.
More of Omega's museum.
That's an exact replica of the Apollo Lunar Module outside Omega's headquarters. Why? Buzz Aldrin wore a Speedmaster Omega when he stepped on the moon.
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