News: Audemars Piguet Celebrates Montreux Jazz Festival Archives' Recognition by UNESCO

Press Release

Montreux, 4th July 2013 - In 2010, Audemars Piguet, Montreux Sounds and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) united their efforts with the aim of digitizing, restoring and preserving the precious archives of the Montreux Jazz Festival founded by the late Claude Nobs. A collection that amounts in several thousands of recordings hours of the best musicians in the world has now become the first audiovisual library to be acknowledged by UNESCO as part of its “Memory
of the World”, in an effort to protect the world’s intangible heritage.

Ensuring that Claude Nobs’ heritage continues to live for years to come, Thierry Amsallem, his partner, announced the creation of the Claude Nobs Foundation, with a goal of preserving and making widely accessible this invaluable collection of 5000 hours of live recordings covering almost half-century of musical history.

For Audemars Piguet, the Montreux Sounds Digital Project is perfectly aligned with the brand’s values of preserving its long heritage and tradition in fine watchmaking for the future generations in its birthplace La Vallée de Joux. Commenting on the recent announcement, Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias, said: “Claude Nobs’ lifework was the inspiration for this project. He was a loyal friend of Audemars Piguet and we are delighted on this personal level to be part of this project. More importantly, we are proud to support a colossal effort that transforms this unique heritage into a top-class digital resource for the generations to come”.

Claude Nobs, a visionary man, valued immensely the world of music which is why he created Montreux Jazz Festival, something that has come to be an institution not only in Switzerland but around the world. Like all great ideas however it took a lot of convincing and insisting before Claude Nobs could persuade the TV stations to come and record the concerts. His vision was to build a music legacy for the next generations. Claude bought back the early archives from Swiss Television when he heard they were overwriting them and from then onwards he personally ensured that all concerts were systematically recorded and filmed. This legacy constitutes almost 5,000 hours of live audiovisual recordings encompassing almost half a century of the festival history, stretching from 1967 to 2012 and forms a unique collection that Quincy Jones has described as “the most important testimonial to the history of music, covering jazz, blues and rock”.

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News: Jaeger-LeCoultre Donates to Two Marine Reserves in UNESCO's World Heritage List

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Since 2008, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been committed alongside the UNESCO and the International Herald Tribune to raise worldwide public awareness regarding the conservation challenges and protection of marine sites.

Jaeger-LeCoultre cooperates with the International Herald Tribune in bringing readers’ attention to the eight annually selected marine sites —all of which appear on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Each year, the manufacture also provides immediate financial backing for UNESCO through the auction of a watch.

Here's the list of all auctions to date:

2009 – Prototype N°1 of the Master Compressor Extreme W-Alarm Tides of Time raised £13,540 for the site Tubbataha, Philipines

2010 – Geophysic 1958 E168 raised £12,600 for the site Sundarbans, India

2011 – Prototype N°1 of the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea raised £16,000 for the site Malpelo, Colombia

2012 – Prototype N°1 of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Vintage Chronograph raised £9,300 for Puerto Princesa site, Philipines

2013 – Prototype N°1 of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet raised $17,700 USD for the site Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre has donated $20,000 USD to assist the Fernando de Noronha management in Brazil. Peaks of the southern Atlantic submarine ridge form the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Rocas Atoll off the coast of Brazil.

The islands are part of a large submarine mountain system of volcanic origin. The Fernando de Noronha volcano is estimated to be between 1.8 million and 12.3 million years old. There are less than ten volcanic islands in the Southern Atlantic, and the Fernando de Noronha and Rocas Atoll Reserves represent more than 50% of the insular South Atlantic coastal area. The waters are extremely important for the breeding and feeding of tuna, shark, turtle and marine mammals. The islands are home to the largest concentration of tropical seabirds in the Western Atllantic.

Baia de Golfinhos has an exceptional population of resident dolphin and at low tide the Rocas Atoll provides a spectacular seascape of lagoons and tidal pools teeming with fish. As the site makes up such a large proportion of the insular coastal habitat, the site is essential to maintaining marine biodiversity for the entire South Atlantic basin.

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This donation will be dedicated to preserving this exceptional marine site. The purchase of a fully equipped rubber dinghy will enable the implementation of a regular monitoring programme aimed at evaluating the state of conservation of its exceptionally rich marine life and of countering illegal fishing activities by facilitating swift interception of non-authorized boats. 

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