With a long 130-year history manufacturing watches, Eberhard & Co. is a historian of the watchmaking industry in its own right. Now, after a lengthy restoration process, the historic UNESCO world heritage site, the Maison de l’Aigle, will house Eberhard & Co.’s very own museum, marking the brand’s comeback to La Chaux-de-Fonds, where it was originally founded in 1887.
The building was dubbed the Maison de l’Aigle (or the House of the Eagle) for the historic “de Reynier” eagle perched atop its roof, overlooking the center of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Eberhard & Co. has worked with the city’s council to restore the eagle to its former glory. During the inauguration of the museum, the eagle was finally unveiled to the public, where a helicopter then flew over to pick up the sculpture and settled it back on top of the historic building—an especially impressive feat accomplished by the workers during one of Europe’s most intense heatwaves.
According to Managing Director Mario Peserico, the move back to Eberhard & Co.’s origins has always been a goal: “We have been here since 1906 to 1969 and this building was built especially for the brand. Then, for various reasons over 50 years ago, we took the brand elsewhere, but the dream was always to return to La Chaux-de-Fonds. This town is the heart of watchmaking and has always felt like home to us.”
The Eberhard & Co. museum is situated on the third floor of the restored building, bathed in natural light with a beautiful display along three walls of the brand’s historic pieces and even an area displaying the traditional watchmaker’s workspace from over a century ago. The evolution of that timeline extends from the brand’s very first pocket watch to its chronographs and even displays 1970’s watches from the quartz era.
For Peserico, there was plenty to choose from in Eberhard & Co.’s archives: “The selection process wasn’t easy. We’re not showing everything here, but 95% of what you see here is what we have. It’s not just pieces that we had in our catalogue, there are extra pieces as well. But it’s better to have a lot to choose from, and to pick those pieces based on their quality and what they represent, rather than make these choices just because you have to choose one.”
A celebration of heritage and coming back to one’s roots, the inauguration of the museum is an important milestone for Eberhard & Co. The museum is open to the public—a way for the brand to warmly welcome people and shares its values with fellow watch-lovers. “We created this museum that, for us, shows the public our roots in this town as well as what we’re focusing on in the future,” said Peserico. He continues: “We wanted to tell the story of where we came from and how we got here—it’s a long 130-year of uninterrupted history that we wanted to share, better showcased through this museum than just on paper.”
For more information on how to visit the Eberhard & Co. museum, visit www.eberhard1887.com.
