State visitors to Switzerland can look forward to a standard gift from the Helvetic Confederation. The present is neither chocolates nor a chunk of the Matterhorn, but an Atmos, the distinctive clock crafted by Jaeger-LeCoultre, one of the country’s most prestigious watchmakers.

“The Atmos has become an icon,” says Jérôme Lambert, the 39-year-old chief executive of the company controlled since 2000 by Richemont, the Geneva-based group that numbers Vacheron Constantin and Panerai among its luxury watch brands.