The Jura mountains is a natural barrier between France and Switzerland and pretty much forms and marks the border between the two. Nestled in the Jura lies the Joux valley, a narrow valley highlighted by Lac de Joux. It's about a 20 mile bike ride around the lake. So, what am I doing here? Back in 2003/2004 I cycled around Switzerland visiting over 100 watch companies (you can read the stories at www.corporatetrivia.com). Diving into the secretive world of Swiss watches was fascinating. With sales totaling tens of billion of dollars, it's BIG business. Four of the biggest names in Swiss watches have their head office and/or factory here along with other players. It's a Sunday morning and thought it would be fun to cruise around and spot building additions or even subtractions since I was here 17 years ago.
It's mid-September and we seem to be having a second summer with temperatures in the high 80's. That's the other reason for coming to Lac de Joux----it'll be 10 degrees cooler in this isolated mountain valley which is also known as the Siberia of Switzerland. My 8AM arrival finds the lake socked in with a very cold morning fog. The lake is right behind those signs.
The lake town of L'Abbaye, with roughly 1,500 inhabitants, is best known for its church tower. See those chunks of concrete lined up? The French border lies only a few miles away and though Switzerland was neutral during World War II, the Swiss were concerned the Germans would sweep through the country like they did France. These concrete blocks were meant to hinder the advance of German tanks.
This water fountain, dispensing ice cold water, has been here since 1813 (see the date stamped on the side)
L'Abbaye is home to Breguet, one of world's oldest watch companies. This luxury brand dates back to 1775 and is part of the Swatch Group --the world's largest watchmaking group with over $8 billion in revenues. Visited Breguet back in 2003 and was disappointed by the reception. This building houses administration.
Cycling along the lake I pass this mini roadside self-service stand on stilts. So I gotta stop and see what's inside.
Wow, inside the little structure there're all kinds of gourmet goodies for sale including gift baskets going for more than $30. Money is deposited into the red metal box.
Microtechnique belongs to the Swatch Group and makes components for watches. That's not why I took this picture though. This building faces the main road. See the clock to the left of the entrance? It's sporting the wrong time. Off by an hour and 10 minutes. How long has this wrong time been going on? Jeez, if I was part of the world's biggest watch group I'd make darn sure public clocks like this one showed the correct time.
A few miles from Breguet's head office I come across their factory. It fronts the main road around the lake.
Going around the backside of Breguet's factory I find a very large modern addition in the rear.
This is another view of Breguet's new addition. Don't know if this is a guard horse.
There'a a small park next to Breguet's factory and features an art sculpture. I'm sorry but it looks pretty lame to me.
This very large structure is going up along the main road. There's no signage but, see the apartment building to the right? I run into an old man outside. He speaks no English and I speak very little French. I point to the building and say "is it a watch company?" He has a scowl on his face and gets very animated. He mentions the word "economy" and gives the thumbs down sign. Next door is a factory building with the name Microtechnique on the side. I point to it and say "Swatch Group?" and then point to the new structure. The old man nods. After more of this back and forth I surmise what's going on------due to covid-19, construction of the building has stopped and the old man is upset because he's tired of looking at the half-done project.
Watch brand Audemars Piguet fronts the main road in Le Brassus. To the left of the main entrance are several more buildings and to the right are several more additions. Received a disappointing reception back in 2003.
There's a new AP building going up on the other side of the crosswalk.
That crane is helping with the new Audermars Piguet addition.
This is the backside of the Audemars Piguet buildings.
Just up the road from Audemars Piguet I come across this Patek Philippe building. Patek Philippe usually has first class modern buildings. I don't remember them having a building in the valley. See the house on the right? There are two men in the rear doing yard work. It turns out one is Australian and lives in the front house with his Swiss wife and the other man lives with his wife in a rear house. I tell the Aussie I cycled through here years ago and never saw this Patek Philippe building and asks if he knows why Patek Philippe is here. I learn this was the former head office/factory for La Pierrette (they transform precious stones for use in watch movements) moved to a brand new building several miles down the road. It turns out the Aussie and the other man both live in houses built and lived in by owners of La Pierette! The Aussie guesses Patek Philippe wants to have a presence in the Joux valley---famous around the world to watch enthusiasts. Side note: received an excellent reception at Patek Philippe's head office/factory complex in Geneva back in 2003
This modern building is home to La Pierrette. According to its website, since 1914 they transform precious stones (mostly ruby and sapphires) to be used in movements for luxury watch manufacturers. Hmmm, thinking there's more to it than what they're saying, (thanks to Google) I find out the family business was sold a few years back to a consortium consisting of: Richemont, Rolex AND, Patek Philippe. So, that explains how Patek Philippe came to ownership of the building in the previous picture.
Luxury watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, part of Richemont (IWC, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre) occupies this new building situated next door to La Pierrette. Received a great reception at Vacheron Constantin's head office in Geneva back in 2002. Plus, I visited parent company Richemont TWICE ---when it was headquartered in Zug and Geneva and each time had an excellent experience!
