The Uhrenmuseum Beyer occupies a single basement room beneath Beyer Chronometrie, the family-owned watch shop on Bahnhofstrasse, but it holds one of the finest private collections of timepieces anywhere — over 500 objects spanning from Egyptian water clocks and Roman sundials through medieval church clocks, baroque pocket watches, marine chronometers and modern Swiss complications.
The display is dense, well-lit, and accompanied by good English captions. Highlights include a 16th-century cross-shaped pocket watch made by Hans Buschmann of Augsburg, a tiny diamond-set pendant watch belonging to Empress Maria Theresa, and a complete set of John Harrison's celebrated marine chronometer drawings. For anyone interested in Swiss watchmaking or in the history of measuring time, this is the most rewarding small museum in Zurich. Entry through the watch shop.