Project Description

Monumental automaton clock, located in Paris, in the Quartier de l’Horloge, 8 rue Bernard de Clairvaux – 75003 Paris.

The Defender of Time victoriously fights the 3 animals that surround him : the crab, the dragon and bird representing respectively the sea, the earth and the sky. On the hour (between 9 am and 10 pm) the man is attacked by one of the three animals programmed to appear randomly. At 12.00, 6 pm and 10 p.m, he is attacked by the three animals at the same time. A few seconds before the hour, you can hear 3 knocks to announce the show. A bronze drum strikes the hour. Sea waves breaking, rumbling earth and blowing wind accompany the fights. The figures and animals, animated by pneumatic actuators, are made of hammered and polished brass. The rocks are made of oxidized brass.



  • Height: 4m (13.12 ft)
  • Weight: Around 1 ton
  • Electronic master clock system with quartz movement controls the random programmer, the 6 cam programmers and the 5 tape recorders.
  • Restored in 1995 (radio-controlled master clock and CD player).

See the construction and design backstage


Read also (in french) on patrimoine-horloge.fr the story by Gérard Guilbaud on the Defender of Time.