スイス・フランスの機械式時計の職人技、ユネスコ無形文化遺産に登録

【チューリヒＡＦＰ＝時事】国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）は16日、スイスとフランスの機械式時計の職人の技能を無形文化遺産に登録すると決定した。両国が昨年、共同で推薦書を提出していた。（写真はスイス・ジュネーブで開催された国際高級時計見本市「SIHH」で、腕時計を組み立てるスイスの腕時計メーカー、ヴァシュロン・コンスタンタンの従業員）
　両国の国境地帯に連なるジュラ山脈一帯で数世紀にわたって受け継がれる職人技の無形文化遺産認定を受け、スイス文化省は「ジュラ地方を象徴する生きた伝統」に光が当たったとの見解を表明した。
　ユネスコは認定理由として、機械式時計の職人技が「科学、芸術、技術の交差点」にあると説明している。
　登録の対象は、機械式時計の製造技能と美術的技巧に加え、機械人形（自動人形）やオルゴール、機械仕掛けのカナリアなどの制作も含み、伝統的な手工業技術から最先端の革新技術まで網羅している。
　ジュラ地方は欧州の時計産業の発祥の地とされる。この地に時計職人が根付いたきっかけは、仏出身の宗教改革者ジャン・カルバンがジュネーブの宗教改革に加わったことだった。スイス時計協会によれば、カルバンは１５４１年に装飾品を身につけることを禁止。その結果「金細工職人や宝石職人は転職せざるを得ず、それが時計制作だった」という。
　 ユネスコは毎年、文化遺産の登録リストを公表している。登録される文化財は、各国の精神や伝統を象徴するものだ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/12/18-11:41）

The craftmanship of Swiss and French mechanical watchmaking on Wednesday won UNESCO intangible heritage status, casting the spotlight on an art practised for centuries in the Jura mountain region straddling the two countries.
Inclusion on the prestigious global list highlights a living and emblematic tradition in the French-Swiss Jura Arc, the Swiss cultural ministry said in a statement.
The craftmanship getting the UNESCO nod sits at a crossroads of science, art and technology, the UN agency said.
UNESCO annually announces a list of cultural artefacts that encapsulate the spirit and heritage of their countries.
Switzerland and France had last year presented a joint application for their centuries-old cross-border watchmaking craft to be included on the list.
Their listing covers the skills related to the craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics, which are used to create watches, clocks and other objects designed to measure and indicate time.
But the manufacture of automatons, music boxes and mechanical songbirds are also included.
And techniques range from the manual and traditional to the cutting-edge and innovative.
Though generally hidden, the mechanisms can also be visible, which contributes to the aesthetics and poetic dimension of the objects, the UNESCO listing said.
The Swiss-French Jura Arc, stretching from Geneva to Basel, is considered the cradle of the European time keeping industry, with the craft practised there for centuries.
French theologian Jean Calvin, the influential reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation, actually played a role in embedding watchmaking in the region.
By banning the wearing of ornamental objects in 1541, he in effect forced goldsmiths and other jewellers to turn to a different art: that of watchmaking, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry explains on its site.
The fact that numerous Protestants fleeing prosecution in France also fled into the city, bringing their watchmaking skills with them, also helped embed the craft in the city.
Today, the Jura region remains bustling with watchmaking companies, big and small, with highly qualified craftspeople and a multitude of training options.
In Switzerland alone, 57,500 people are employed in the sector, which counts a broad range of professions that are needed to assemble the casings and internal mechanics of a precision timepiece.
Watchmaking is the third largest export sector in the Alpine country, with exports ticking in at nearly 22 billion Swiss francs ($25 billion, 20 billion euros) last year.