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Ruckdee
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My Swiss Horological Pilgrimage

Visiting Switzerland had been one of my dreams for quite some time. I figured that, since I keep buying their watches, I might as well visit their country to see how things are like and how life is lived. With that thought firmly in mind, I set out to make the necessary appointments for the late March visit of myself and a few friends.

We had only eight nights to spend on Swiss ground so we had to make it count.




The Omega Constellation clocks were everywhere in the airport...


...which reminded us we had to reset our watches to local time.


As soon as we checked into our hotel in Zurich, we headed straight by train to Schaffhausen for our first destination.






A quick stroll through the town on the way to IWC








Somebody spray painted this on the foothpath...


...looking up, I saw this sign.


The building was unmistakable. We have finally arrived at IWC!


It was a shame we were not allowed to take photographs inside of their fine and compact museum.


At least I managed this one wristshot from outside the building for memory's sake


Goodbye, IWC. Until the next visit...


A visit to Schaffhausen could not have been complete without a visit to the Rhine Falls.






One last shot before returning to Zurich


Each of the following days was spent in one city across the country. We moved next to Bern.










And then to Bienne, where the Omega Museum awaited




















I actually have many, many pics of the museum to share. But I think it is best for me not to show all so there will be more surprises left for you to discover on your own. Allow me to close the museum tour with these two prototypes of the X-33.


After that day, the trip took us further southwestern to the snowy Le Sentier.








A visit to Jaeger-LeCoultre completed the pilgrimage to my three all-time favorite watch brands.




Again, photography was impossible for me beyond this point. But my memory of the visit will remain with me forever.


A quick stop in Le Pont on the way back from the Grande Maison






With all watch destinations covered, it was time to fully explore the landscape of Switzerland. The next morning we were in Lausanne.








We found Lavaux to be quite sunny that afternoon.












The weather was dramatically different during our next two days in Zermatt.




Some warm food was in order to fight against the cold.






IWC Ingenieur Mission Earth in icy environment


This is the largest collection of snow-buried Omega I have seen. Only one of them is mine though.


























Lucerne was where we spent the last full day of the trip.




It was very nice to have a hotel room right in front of the Chapel Bridge...


...otherwise it would not have been possible to take this wristshot!






















The next morning was our last in Switzerland.


Last minute work on the train back to Zurich Airport




There were 67 gates and ours just had to be the last one down the terminal.


First glimpse of reality back home in Bangkok, Thailand


And that's it for my first trip to Switzerland and I should say Europe.


Thank you for viewing!

Ruckdee

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