Patek Philippe Museum

The museum occupies a 1920s workshop building that Patek Philippe restored, and it separates cleanly into two collections. The antique galleries cover watchmaking from the sixteenth century onward, with Geneva enamel miniatures, singing-bird boxes, automata and pocket watches of extreme complexity from many makers - not only the house's own. Above that sits the Patek collection proper, running from 1839 to the present, including the Calibre 89 and pieces made for particular clients. There is also a library of some eight thousand volumes on horology. It is a company museum but the antique holdings are of a quality that puts it among the serious decorative arts collections in Europe, not a brand showroom.

What you actually see

• Watchmaking from the 1500s - antique galleries covering many makers.
• Geneva enamels and automata - miniatures and singing-bird mechanisms.
• The house collection from 1839 - including its most complicated pieces.
• A horology library - about eight thousand volumes.

When to go

All year, Tuesday to Saturday afternoons. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Opening hours are narrow - afternoons only, closed Sundays and Mondays. It is a company museum, and the house's own section reads accordingly. Photography is restricted. The material rewards interest in mechanisms; casual visitors may find it dense.

Nearby

Carouge is south across the Arve; the old town is north-east.