{Published on 27 May 2009} A great patron of the arts, Maurice Ditisheim (1901-1992) was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ‘Bureau de Contrôle des Ouvrages en Métaux précieux’.

By BloggyTaG / Front picture by Mona Ditisheim (@Family Archives)

As early as 1966, thanks to the privileged relationship between the Watch Museum and the Bureau de Contrôle des Métaux Précieux, Maurice Ditisheim was able to develop in La Chaux-de-Fonds what would become the first – and the only international watchmaking museum (MIH). We owe it to him to have tested the waters and consulted the Parisian Professor Georges-Henri Rivière, Director of the International Council of Museums. We have him to thank for having found the formula “The Man and the Time” (L’homme et le temps) which should be the foundation of the Institute, of which his friend Pierre Imhof will be Chairman of the Commission (IHT).

Architecture and the Gaia Awards

Twenty-seven architectural projects were submitted, and it was the second prize, named “Gnomon”, that won: the architects P. Zoelly and G.-J. Haefeli (recently deceased) proposed a new building capable of safely housing one of the most prestigious collections of watches and clocks in the world. In 1974, the Museum moved from the premises of the Ecole d’Horlogerie to the grounds of the Sandoz Villa of the Museum of Art and History.

In 1992, to commemorate him, the Gaïa Award was launched under the leadership of Catherine Cardinal (scientific director and curator). It is to watchmaking what the Nobel is to politics…