In 2009 the two Swiss towns of Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle were added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. Corum watches is just one of a number of the world’s leading watch brands to be found here at the origins and heart of the watch industry.
Watches and town planning, Savoir Faire and historical architecture, were the principal reasons for nominating these two towns to be inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. This recognition brings to ten the number of UNESCO listed heritage sites in Switzerland. Others include: the old City of Berne, the Benedictine monastery of St-Jean-des-Soeurs at Müstair, and the Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch Bietsehhorn.
Laurent Kurth, a municipal councillor in La Chaux-de-Fonds, said that “La Chaux-de-Fonds derives its qualities from its watch making history. With the recognition of UNESCO and its registration as a World Heritage site of humanity, the watch making Metropolis acquires visibility and notoriety which it intends to exploit to the benefit of all those involved in its development and success. The city also carries a new responsibility: to further promote the richness of our economical, cultural and social history, projecting its development in line with its roots and values that are now brightened by UNESCO.”
The two cities we see today were designed in the 19th century, following a fire in 1794. It is the urbanisation of these two cities that has created the historical heritage of watch making and watch production. Watch-making literally created these two cities; the new urban plans were adapted by and for the watch making industry.
Corum watches, founded in 1955, may be a recent addition to the horological heritage, but it has rapidly established itself as an innovative watch brand.
