News 
The first temporary exhibition for 2017 of the International Museum of Horology (MIH) is dedicated to that institution’s expanding collection. Acquisitions made in 2016 through gifts or with resources made available by the Association of Friends (MIHfriends) were presented to the public on 9 March.
The year 2016 saw a great many fine acquisitions by the MIH. Its collections have in fact grown by some sixty pieces in different areas, with special emphasis on pocket watches and wrist watches incorporating technical innovations from the early 18th century to the present day.
Two particular pieces enable the scale of the progress of watchmaking in the Neuchâtel region to be measured: a «turnip» watch signed by Sibelin in around the year 1700, making it one of the oldest Neuchâtel watches known today, and the first smart watch to be included in the MIH collection: the TAG Heuer connected.
Between these two landmarks, the public will encounter a great many technically remarkable watches such as a pocket watch signed by Ferdinand Berthoud incorporating a seconds hands (1780), a series of electronic wrist watches and extra-flat quartz watches, to say nothing of contemporary wrist watches featuring complications.
Decorative pieces include the addition to the collection of a majestic French clock in cow horn dating back to the mid-18th century and in a remarkable state of preservation. Finally, among the non-mechanical instruments, the public will discover a rare nocturlabe nocturnal enabling time to be measured by reference to the position of the stars in the heavens.
The exhibition of new acquisitions will remain open until the end of February 2018 to pay tribute to the many donors.
Last autumn, the MIH completely renewed its institutional image. Today the message of the MIHfriends, Message des amisMlH, an annual publication which traditionally accompanies the exhibition dedicated to donations and purchases, has also acquired a fresh dynamic under the new name of Le Carillon as a tribute to the monumental work exhibited in the Museum Park. Behind the new look, the reader will find a detailed presentation of the latest acquisitions and news from the MIH.
March 23, 2017