At last someone sharing a walk-through of the museum and not worried about "spoiling" it ! Thanks ! Especially since a trip there is not looking likely in the near future...

What is this thing at 3:40 ?! A Marine Chronometer "simulator" ? That's never been seen before AFAIK.



More modern and more interactive as you say in your intro but it almost looks "smaller" with fewer watches on display ? It was to be expected but there seem to be fewer of the fabulous quartz watches from the 70s on display with just one main exhibit ?

 

Surprised there hasn't been more interest in this thread ! So had anyone seen that OMC "Chronometer" contraption before ?
In other news the Museum is now open again https://www.citedutemps.com/ even though attendance is currently limited to 50 people...which based on my previous visits to the old museum shouldn't really be a problem ;-) Hoping to make it there myself sometime in July !

 

+1 Charles-Adamir is super nice and helpful, I got to speak to him several times while he was working in the Archives division.

 

Agreed. They are terrible.

 

Looks like the Omega museum also contains a few small sides of a theme parc... " do-activities "

 

I visited the Omega Museum this past Saturday. All the anti Covid measures were in place; giant panes of plexi at the reception / in front of the welcome desk, hand sanitizer on every floor, and a lot of the interactive exhibits (where you would touch something) were off limits.

Outside of the building is a life size replica of the landing module. Never realised how huge it was in real life.

First was the Swatch museum, not bad. Spent some time trying to find my original swatch from back in the 1980s (and I did). It is amazing to see the changes to their designs over the decades.

The Omega museum was a bit "underwhelming" to me personally. If you have ever been to the other Swiss watch museums (Patek Philippe in Geneva, Musée international d’Horlogerie in La-Chaux-de-Fonds) the Omega one is miniscule in comparison.

Some parts of it feel very much like a "marketing / promotional piece" rather than a history lesson / presentation of the company history.

The video in the beginning is well done, but the long display of watches on down the centre, with the other side being only shots of their adverts through time, themselves don't really let you see the watches as well as you can at the Patek Philippe museum.

They also use the harsh "watch store lighting" to get the watches to look their best / pop visually. I can understand that in a shop, but is that what you really want in a museum?

Plus, it's all behind one long wall of glass (with the exception of a few watches as part of the Moon Landing and James Bond exhibits).

One quite good touch was the carpet that was part of the Moon Landing exhibit, through my shoes, it felt like walking on dirt/dust. I imagine they were going for the feeling of walking on the moon. Well done that.

One potentially negative touch was that the exhibit module for showing one of the actual Speedmasters that had been on the moon was too high for a child to see into. Ok, so maybe this is only for adults? There were quite a few children there, with the adults...

I did not watch the last video at the end of the museum as it had just started and I wasn't too keen to wait around for it to end.

One thing that was missing was anything "fun" for the kids to take home with them as a souvenir, other than a shot of hand sanitizer.

I will post some photos later. Camera only shoots in RAW at the moment, so need to convert them and it takes some time....

 

You didn't miss anything, trust me. That final video is useless as it is now - in my opinion that part of the exhibition is the one with the greatest potential for improvement. It is particularly sad because it's the last thing you see in the visit and it's really upsetting. Not what you'd expect as a "final touch". Hope they will improve that very soon.

COVID-19 cared about that. All the fun parts where you can have some interaction and get those souvenirs you take with are probably closed for obivous sanitary reasons...

That long wall of glass, that by the way is shaped like a flat-links bracelet is the history lesson (did you use the audio guide?) and a presentation of the company's history with almost all the milestones and (historically) important watches. Interesting contradictory feedback you give here

 

Good to know. The other odd thing was when trying to photograph some of the posters, there appears to be a scanning "banding" built into the backlight so as to not allow a good photo. Tried on two different cameras, same thing. Odd.

Yes, the interactive stuff was all turned off, but I didn't get the impression there was anything for kids to take with them in any case.

Did I use the audio guide? No, it died during the initial movie (probably from too much disinfectant being applied to it) and I didn't bother walking the whole way around to get another one.

I understand the long wall of glass shows the history, but to my eye, once you reach the part of the exhibit when Hayek purchased the company in the 80s, it becomes very much more a marketing piece.

That is the impression that I had, compared to other museums that are not affiliated with a brand. That being said, I'm under no illusions that Swatch Group is also using it as an opportunity to promote their brand. It's their right to do so. The Patek Philippe Museum does a much better job of showcasing so many different things, including things outside of their own watches, it gives a better impression of being a "museum", rather than a branding tool.

 

Looks like a fantastic museum.

The only thing I can think they could add to it is a James Bond Section.

.

 

It's been done!

 

As I didn't see it, can I ask how the last video is is sad or upsetting?

 

Can anyone elaborate on this, if that is indeed the entire display of the seventies era that would be hugely disappointing for me as that's my favourite decade of Omega history and they had so many incredible bold designs during that time.

I'm sure that can't be all they have on display?

 

They could have done an olympic run start and have their performance measured like in real world. They could have timed a bobsleigh run and compare themselves to technology. They could have touched oversized movement parts to understand how a balance wheel or an escapement works. Obviously you can't know what you could have done. But hey good news are now you have a good reason to come back

Spot on Omega SA resumed in one sentence. What did you expect?

100% agree

It's just pointless... unfortunately. But chances are good they will improve this soon, hopefully.

 

I haven't been to the Omega museum - no interest really. But I would encourage anyone who has the chance to visit the Patek Museum. I would guess that there aren't any watch branded museums (I've been to a few) that would even come close to PP's museum. As you say, there's a lot more there than just PP's represented, and I was actually quite surprised and pleased that it wasn't just their watches on display, but all kinds of watches, clocks, and other artifacts from other brands.

 

Really ? I went there in 2010 I think and wjhile the location and environment were "welcoming" I wasn't terribly impressed as there was practically nothing from the 1960s onwards. This has been rectified since hopefully.

One watch museum I would recommend is the MIH museum in La Chaux de Fonds https://www.chaux-de-fonds.ch/musees/mih not very far from Bien, lots of great exhibits from all brands and all periods. I wet to the Omega museum twice in 2012 and 2013 when it was still across the street from the current one and while a bit "dated" (although it had already been refurbished) there were a lot of watches to see, especially the wonderful designs from Omega in their heyday in the late 60s/early 70s. I'll be checking out the new one this summer but it seems it's been "dumbed down"...

Still that "Omega Marine Chronometer Clock" is probably worth the trip in itself as it's never been seen/shown/mentioned anywhere else AFAIK

 

A bit disappointing anout the Omega museum but I will still have to visit. BtW, if you @DSotW liked the LEM, you have to go to the Smithsonian Air and Space in DC.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I plan on visiting these two. Anyone have thoughts on these: https://www.nawcc.org/visit/
https://www.uhrenmuseum-glashuette.com

 

Seems the situation has been reversed, it's about 1/3rd old, 2/3rds new now (maybe not that drastic, but there is a lot more Hayek-forward content than pre-Hayek).

Don't let me spoil it for you! My opinions/observations are my own (and I'm a grumpy git). There are quite a few watches there, but you could really feel the visual emphasis was on the newer/now, outside of the Moon watches. You may have a different impression than I. As @kov has said, I am sure Covid has not helped...

I've been to MIH in La-Chaux-de-Fonds twice, it's rather good, goes back further in time (haha) than Patek Philippe's museum in Geneva (it has Egyptian water clocks, a ton of older clocks from buildings and concentrates more on the art/technique of older watches and clocks). Were I to rate the museums I've been to in Switzerland;

1. Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva
2. MIH in La-Chaux-de-Fonds
3. Espace Horloger in Le Sentier
4. Omega Museum in Bienne

I have yet to visit the other watch museums in Bienne, Le Locle, Zürich and Schaffhausen, so the list is incomplete.

 

Don't take my review too seriously, it's only my impression and opinion (and I'm a miserable git at times...). I would recommend you visit it, as well as PP, MIH, Espace Horloger if you can fit it all in.

I visited Glashütte last year, well worth the visit, if not a bit off the beaten path. It was interesting to see where the 3/4 plate pocket watch movements of the Germans influenced the Swiss pocket watch movements that became the 2497 / 2498. Although I am sure everyone has influenced everyone at some point...

 

The museum in Glashütte is well worth the short train ride from Dresden if you are in that area. I made a trip just to go to Glashütte, but most people likely wouldn't do that. Having been to a lot of the main watchmaking areas in Switzerland, the density of watchmaking in Glashütte is really second to none.

As a watchmaker I found this museum very good. I think what you get out of any museum has a lot to do with what you are interested in. A lot of my photos are of things like this...so maybe not what collectors would be interested in seeing.



It also helps if you are a German watch fan I suppose...



The last thing I want to do personally is visit a museum showing the watches I service all day long, but I realize I might be in the minority in that view.

Cheers, Al