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Time Traveling
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Watch Valley
Keith W. Strandberg
03/01/2005
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Photography by Keith W. Strandberg
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As a watch lover, the idea of combining two of my passions—watches and
motorcycles—was one I contemplated for several years. I decided to ride the
roads of Switzerland while at the same time visiting the finest watch companies
in the cradle of the industry, the Jura valley—known as Watch Valley—to find the
perfect watch. I believed it was out there, and if I had to ride every back road in Switzerland
to find it, I was prepared to do just that.
In many ways, watches and
motorcycles are quite similar. Both run by “engines,” and as the price goes up,
the attention to detail climbs exponentially as well. The Watch Valley and the
entire western edge of the country (from Geneva in the south to Basel in the
north) is the birthplace of Swiss watchmaking and is the center of timepiece
manufacturing for the entire world. It is here that the greatest timepieces in
the history of watches are made by the most skilled artisans in the
industry. (Click images to enlarge)
How did the watch industry end up here? Well, it started with the
Huguenots, who moved to Geneva to escape religious persecution in France. They
spread out from Geneva into the valleys to farm. When winters came, there was no
farming to be done, so they needed to develop a skill to make money and keep
themselves occupied.
Watchmaking filled that void for the Huguenots, and the
Swiss watch industry was born. In the ’70s, the quartz watch was introduced and
the industry almost died. As a result of hard work by the watch companies
and a worldwide rebirth of interest in fine, mechanical timepieces, the Swiss
are back and stronger than ever.
 Nowhere else in the world and in no other
industry can you go to such a small area and visit as many companies and museums
as you can here, all within two hours or less from each other. For example, in
La Chaux-de-Fonds (the only town designed to facilitate watchmaking, with broad
avenues to provide natural light for the workshops of master designers)
Girard-Perregaux is just two blocks from Ebel, and TAG Heuer has its offices on
the other side of town. Corum is up on the hill, and on the other side of the
main street is the International Watchmaking Museum. To top it off, this part of
Switzerland is off the tourist track, so the roads are pretty much
traffic-free. (Click image to enlarge)
This time, I decided to rent a bike from my friends at Suzuki
Center Basel. I chose a Suzuki V-Strom 650 which is considered the Swiss Army
knife of motorcycles, able to do just about anything—canyon carving, touring,
urban commuting, a little dirt tracking and much more. It turned out to be a
perfect choice for riding in Switzerland. I rode with several other riders
throughout my time in Switzerland, and where they were struggling and scraping
hard parts on the Alpine corners, I was gliding easily, the perfectly tuned 650
never even breathing hard.
 The Swiss motorcyclists are unfailingly
friendly, highly skilled, and very well equipped—full riding leathers, boots and
full face helmets. Riders wave to each other like here in the United States, but
they have added a twist: If you pass another motorcyclist, hanging your right
foot slightly behind the peg is the equivalent of the wave—very European and
certainly safer than trying to wave during an overtake. (Click image to enlarge)
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