Last Sunday, at 6.15 am, four hooded individuals wearing gloves forced open the north door of the Le Locle Watch Museum at the Château des Monts (Neuchâtel). They entered two rooms, smashed the glass cases protecting the pendulum clocks, took several timepieces and left. The police estimate that they were inside the building for less than five minutes. By the time the first officers arrived, the group was already heading towards France in a powerful dark-coloured saloon car.
The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but figures of several tens of thousands of francs are already being cited. The museum remained closed that Sunday to allow for a technical inspection and a criminal investigation. The Neuchâtel police alerted the French authorities and the Federal Customs Office. No arrests have been made so far. The authorities have acknowledged a security breach and announced an audit.
Le Locle, together with La Chaux-de-Fonds, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. The Château des Monts houses a collection spanning centuries of Swiss watchmaking history. In other words: someone planned, researched and carried out a theft from one of the most iconic museums in the country that practically invented the modern watch. And they did it in the time it takes for the clock to strike six in the morning. Five minutes. You have to admit, that’s a rather remarkable feat.