HISTORICAL MUSINGS

Possibly the world’s greatest horological showcase, the Patek Philippe Museum must be experienced in person, and offers new treats for visitors on the occasion of its 20th anniversary

- ASHOK SOMAN

Watches are living symbols of our past, present and future. We should say traditional watches, but really this includes timekeepers of all sorts, even atomic clocks; smartwatches are a different kettle of fish, and belong properly to the world of computer science. Given that humans are the only species interested in tracking time all the way back to the Big Bang, and forward ad infinitum, the importance of evermore precise timekeepers cannot be understated. On that note, keeping good time is important when it comes to computing, so there is every chance that artificial intelligence networks and entities will also be bound to timekeeping systems. The point, if such a thing is broadly relevant here, is that timekeeping is a human cultural activity as much as it is a scientific and practical one.

This is where museums enter the picture, especially since mechanical watchmaking has been recognised by UNESCO as an intangible part of our collective cultural heritage. Of course, this covers much more than Swiss watchmaking, but the official UNESCO listing only covers Swiss and French mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics. Regardless of how you feel about English, Japanese, German and US watchmaking - to say nothing of a number of other countries - it is certainly a fact that Swiss museums of timepieces are the best in the world. We have been to some of them and can attest to their quality. The very best must be the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, which is really saying something because you expect such institutions to be state-owned. For some context, imagine if the Louvre were owned by Banksy.

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