The Peacock Clock

The Peacock Clock (Tchasy Pavlin), one of the most delightful pieces on display at the State Hermitage Museum, is in the Pavilion Hall, on the first floor. The clock consists of a gilded peacock on a branch, a rooster, and an owl in a cage. Designed by the famous London jeweler and goldsmith James Cox and brought in pieces to St. Petersburg for Russian empress Catherine the Great in 1781, the clock is still in working order. Over the past decades it's been wound once a week (normally on Wednesday evenings at 7, but the time can be changed, occasionally) to activate the moving pieces—the peacock spreads its wings and turns in a circle, the rooster crows, and the owl opens and closes its eyes. Even without motion the clock is a must-see. If you have kids with you, ask them to count all the creatures on the clock. Hint: there are more than just the three birds; for instance, a dragonfly acts as the tiny second hand on the mushroom dial.