Many of the world’s most authentic, costly and most well-known watches are made in Swiss factories, and when a watchmaker seems to be up from his workbench the view he sees might be grass on a snow-capped mountain slope. It’s like a cow consuming meals.
This is the Vallée de Joux, residence to the factories and places of work of the watch divisions of Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Blancpain, Breguet, Patek Philippe and Bvlgari, in addition to elements suppliers reminiscent of La Pierrete for the rubies and CHH Microtechnique for all its merchandise. There are additionally corporations. From screws to shock absorbers.
Approximately 7,000 individuals work in watchmaking right here, a lot of them in services positioned on a roughly 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) stretch between the cities of Le Brassus and Le Sentier.
So when the top of the week comes, the place do you go to simply speak and de-stress?
At 11:45 a.m. on a latest Friday, Chez Lily in Le Brassus was buzzing. By 12:30, every of its 12 wood tables had a small pot of anthurium on it, and staff have been calling out to them. Most of them have been staff of Audemars Piguet, simply up the hill, and CHH Microtechnic, a brief stroll away.
Was it the day by day particular (sea bass fillet with citrus sauce, fries, 19 Swiss francs, or $21) that drew them, or was it the camaraderie? People entered the small cafe, much like the corporate cafeteria, and nodded in recognition to one another.
Colleagues have been sitting collectively and speaking. or not. “For us, it is a likelihood to mirror on our lives,” stated Rennie Buret, who was with three of his Piguet colleagues at Audemars. “We assemble elements for various watches.” Ta.
The males come to Chez Lily each Friday for lunch. “It’s a convention,” Buret stated.
It’s a convention for others too. Six staff from his division at CHH Microtechnique, together with his boss, Vincent Palpawer, have been seated round a desk. “We do not speak about work. We speak about different issues,” he stated. However, on today they made an exception and listed the completely different watch elements they create for the guests.
Everyone on the four-person desk subsequent to me was additionally from CHH Microtechnique. “We create each element of a look ahead to the Swatch Group, Breguet and Blancpain,” says Anthony Gaillard.
What this group likes about coming to Chez Lilly is that “Lily and her companion chef are from Vila Verde in Braga, Portugal, and my spouse and I are additionally from there,” stated Cristiano Veloso, his spouse Andreia. He stated whereas nodding to Ramos. , have been seated throughout the desk.
It was beginning to really feel like a household meal, however it was as interesting as the meat tartare du chef (CHF 33), one in every of chef Pedro Silva’s hottest dishes. It looks like a division. The ambiance is heat and rustic. The floor of the bar is roofed with stones. The chaise lounge is product of pink leather-based. The placemats are paper, and the meals is piled excessive on plates delivered by the restaurant’s solely waitress, Geraldine Collineau, or Lily herself, whose actual identify is Liliane Jacinta Araujo Tagus.
Almost throughout the road was the Hôtel de la Lande, whose restaurant was additionally filled with watchmakers. The menu has an Italian twist, with risotto and pasta dishes, in addition to dishes reminiscent of veal scaloppine (CHF 34) and grilled sea bass (CHF 38). Breton Nicolas, a legeur at CHH Microtechnique who adjusts hairsprings and makes different minor changes, stated he got here along with his colleagues “to have a good time the top of the week.”
Sabrina Pawney and all three of her colleagues from Swatch Group’s human assets division come right here commonly to debate ‘work and watches’. It’s a household, there are dozens of members of the family right here. ”
And when the day’s work is finished, many individuals head to Notos Bar Restaurant, positioned only a brief stroll from Le Sentier practice station.
Bar Maison, one thing of an area establishment, had been working on the location for years, however closed throughout the coronavirus lockdown, maybe hurried by its popularity for rowdyness.
The spot reopened as Notos in 2021 with added meals attraction. Daily specials reminiscent of pork cutlet or pizza with creamed spinach, fior di latte mozzarella, gorgonzola, pear and nuts include a inexperienced salad (CHF 19). There are two tables outdoors on the entrance, and inside there are six of his blond wooden tables that seat 4, and one communal desk that seats ten. There is a bar and pizza oven within the again, and he additionally has a separate eating room with 12 tables.
“Salvatore introduced Neapolitan pizza to the Vallée de Joux,” Filippos Gasparis stated of his enterprise companion Salvatore de Rosa. But Mr. Gaspari additionally makes his personal contributions to the restaurant’s menu known as meze, an assortment of small dishes from his native Greece.
There can also be a Notos cocktail with ardour fruit juice and rosé wine. The wine listing consists of Chasselas from Switzerland and Voila Assyrtiko from Crete. From the native Dr. Gabs to the German Dunkelweizen, the most well-liked drink is draft beer.
“It’s like an English pub,” says Chris Pointere, who works at Audemars Piguet as a guilloché, or carving, group chief by day and as a particular occasions DJ by evening.
“We have good pizza,” stated Pascal Schrunegger, a colleague of Mr. Pointerre each at Audemars Piguet, the place he leads workshops, and at his DJ gigs.
“And it is a chilly ambiance,” Pointerre continued.
“And that is central,” Schlunegger concluded.
Laura Poetet, who works on dials at Audemars Piguet, and her 4 co-workers all laughed once I requested them in the event that they usually come right here.
“Yes, we come right here usually,” she stated. “The ambiance is sweet and the beer is nice. Sometimes we speak about work, however after a few beers we speak about different issues.” Life, love, household.
Sandra Perrault, a motion skilled at Breguet, was at Notos with a number of colleagues. She stated she got here as a result of she favored the convivial ambiance. And to indicate how pleasant she is to her guests, she pulls out her cellphone and shows a photograph of a scret (skeleton watch in English) with a finely polished motion ticking inside.
And then there’s Nautilus, a nightclub reverse Jaeger-LeCoultre. The membership is briefly closed, however when it reopens, Notos patrons will most likely stroll the brief distance to the unmarked door and proceed ingesting and hanging out, whatever the time of day.