Chronometrophilia
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Chronometrophilia is described in its byline as the the "Swiss Association for the History of Timekeeping / Association suisse pou l'histoire de la mesure du temps / Schweizerische Gesellschaft fuer die Geschichte der Zeitmessung". It is a group of collectors and enthusiasts interested in the history of horology.
Given that Switzerland is quatro-lingual they needed a language-neutral name for their organisation, so they invented the term "chronometrophilia" (form the greek chronos = time, the latin metro = measuring and the suffix phila = latin for "the love of").
The association was founded in 1976 and unites collectors, scholars and museum professionals interested in the historical aspects of clocks and watches. Meetins are held about 4 times a year in various locations in Switzerland, and are usually conducted bi-lingually in French and German. Most meetings involve visits to museums, restoration workshops or private collections. Once a year the organization also organises an international study tour, traveling to a foreign locals to study historic horological artefacts.
"chronometrophilia" also is the name of their semi-annual glossy, scholarly journal (published bilingually with articles in both French and German).
The administrative office of chronometrophilia is located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a swiss town in the Jura mountains, that is considered the focus of the swiss watchmaking industry, and which also house the Musée International d'Horlogerie.
Its main sister organizations in other countries persueing similar goals are:
- Antiquarian Horological Society - AHS (United Kingdom)
- Association Française des Amateurs d'Horlogerie Ancienne - AFAHA (France)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Chronometrie - DGC (Germany)
- HORA Associazione Italiana Cultori di Orologeria Antica (Italy)
- National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors - NAWCC (United States of America)
