The St.Petersburg Centre of Watch & Clock Restoration

Terentiy Ivanovich Voloskov
(1729 – 1806)

An outstanding clockmaker, a self-made expert holds the priority in inventing the astronomic clock. He designed a clock showing the current time, month and position of the sun, the moon and stars. In his "planetary" clock Voloskov "showed in aggregate all the things, which are inseparably linked in Nature".

His contemporary F.Glinka said about him: "After looking at the clock board you will see it all covered with some circles: this is a complete calendar or a picture of the sky in miniature. There is a silver moon moving with all its changing phases, there is a golden sun flowing across the blue horizon, which gets narrow and widens in accordance with a day becoming shorter or longer. Suppose you wish to know about the current year, month, date, about the position of the Moon or which part of heaven is the sun in, just have a look at the clock and you will get all that you need”.

One more contemporary of Voloskov praised his watch in verse as a perfect “on following Nature itself”.