**** Festina Prima La Chaux De-Fonds ****

[is that my watch]

Well while doing the letters of the alphabet threads I got to the letter F and so out came my Festina and I have been meaning to do a thread on it and the whole area of La Chaux De-Fonds which is in Switzerland on the border with France quite a fascinating place with quite an d'horlogerie
history and a grand musseum to watches and timepieces of all types.




So here is my Festina 1960/70 ?








Will also add a couple of post on information on the area and the Musée International d'Horlogerie it self


As always Ismy

[is that my watch]

La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city located completely in the Romandie, the French-speaking part of the country, with a population (as of December 2013) of 38,699.[2]


The city was founded in 1656. Its growth and prosperity is mainly bound up with the watch making industry. It is the most important centre of the watch making industry in the area known as the Watch Valley. Completely destroyed by a fire in 1794 La Chaux-de-Fonds was rebuilt following a grid street plan, which was and is still original among Swiss cities. Karl Marx said about the very special urban design of the city that it was a "city-factory". The famous architect Le Corbusier, the writer Blaise Cendrars and the car maker Louis Chevrolet were born there. La Chaux-de-Fonds is a renowned centre of Art nouveau.


In 2009, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, its sister city, have jointly been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status for their exceptional universal value.


UNESCO World Heritage Sites....


The watch making cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle have jointly received recognition from UNESCO for their exceptional universal value.


The Site's planning consists of two small cities located close to each other in the mountainous environment of the Swiss Jura. Due to the altitude (1,000 m [3,300 ft]) and the lack of water (porous sandstone underground) the land is ill suited to farming. Planning and buildings reflect the watch-making artisans need of rational organization. Rebuilt in the early 19th Century, after extensive fires, both towns owe their survival to the manufacturing and exports of watches, to which, in the 20th Century, was added the minute micromechanical industry.


Along an open-ended scheme of parallel strips on which residential housing and workshops intermingle, the town's planned lay-out reflects the needs of the local watch-making culture that dates back to the 17th century, and which is still alive today. Both agglomerations present outstanding examples of mono-industrial manufacturing-towns, which are still well-preserved and active. The urban planning has accommodated the transition from the artisans’ production of a cottage industry to the more concentrated factory production of the late 19th and 20th centuries. In 1867 Karl Marx was already describing La Chaux-de-Fonds as a “huge factory-town” in Das Kapital, where he analyzed the division of labour in the watch making industry of the Jura.[3]


It is the tenth Swiss Site to be awarded World Heritage status, joining others such as the Old City of Bern, the Rhaetian Railway and the Abbey and Convent of St. Gallen.




Geography....


La Chaux-de-Fonds and surroundings
La Chaux-de-Fonds has an area, as of 2009, of 55.7 square kilometers (21.5 sq mi). Of this area, 30.46 km2 (11.76 sq mi) or 54.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.52 km2 (5.99 sq mi) or 27.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.28 km2 (3.58 sq mi) or 16.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.3 km2 (0.12 sq mi) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.11 km2 (27 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.[7]


Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 8.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.6%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, 24.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.4% is used for growing crops and 40.0% is pastures and 14.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[7]


The municipality is the capital of the district of the same name. It is located in the Jura Mountains near the French border at an elevation of about 1,000 m (3,300 ft).




Watch companies....


Many watch companies started in La Chaux de Fonds:


Bouchet-Lassale SA, in 1978;
Marathon Watch Co. in 1904 - Originally founded as Weinsturm Watch.
Cyma Watches, 1862 - Schwob Frères and Co. 1892 - Cyma Watch Company.
Eberhard & Co., by George-Emile Eberhard, in 1887;
Corum
Ebel, by Eugene Blum and Alice Levy, in 1911;
Gallet & Co., by Julien Gallet, in 1826;
Girard-Perregaux, by Constantin Girard and Marie Perregaux, in 1856;
Heuer Leonidas, now TAG Heuer, by Edouard Heuer, in 1860;
Invicta Watch Group, by Raphael Picard, in 1837;
Movado, by Achilles Ditesheim, in 1881;
Omega SA, in 1848;
Rolex trademark, registered by Hans Wilsdorf, in 1908. His company, Wilsdorf and Davis, London, was later renamed Rolex Watch Company, Geneva and Biel/Bienne;
Rotary, by Moise Dreyfuss, in 1895;
Solvil et Titus, by Paul Ditisheim, in 1892;
Venus by Paul Arthur Schwarz and Olga Etienne, in 1902;
Vulcain by Maurice Ditisheim, in 1858.


As always Ismy

[is that my watch]

It also has the Musee international d'horlogerie




fascinating looking place would love to have a wonder around it at some point







here a map





and some great photos not mine unfortunately thanks to the web for them.


AS always Ismy