They keep the clocks of Paris ticking

By the Editorial Team · Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Paris’s municipal clockmaking workshop, led by horologist Enzo Meschin, is responsible for maintaining over 250 historic clocks across the city, including landmark pieces like the Hôtel de Ville clock and the Church of Saint-Paul Saint-Louis’s unique “jumping hour” mechanism. While the team performs regular upkeep and complex restorations, about 50 clocks remain in need of significant repairs, posing a challenge to preserving Paris's cultural heritage in the long term.

Paris relies on a dedicated team of horologists tasked with maintaining more than 250 historic clocks dispersed across the city’s public buildings. These timepieces, some dating back several centuries, require ongoing attention to remain operational, a responsibility managed by a municipal clockmaking workshop established in 1921 within the city’s Public Buildings and Architecture Department.

The workshop, staffed by four expert clockmakers and an apprentice, is led by Enzo Meschin, a 29-year-old horologist who joined the team in August 2024. Meschin, who began his apprenticeship in watchmaking at an early age and earned a diploma from the Lycée Diderot in Paris, oversees the routine winding, maintenance, and restoration of these clocks. The team carries out biweekly visits to around 40 locations citywide, servicing clocks housed in landmark sites such as the Hôtel de Ville and historic churches.

The clock at Hôtel de Ville, Meschin’s personal favorite, is a centerpiece of his work. Crafted by the Henry-Lepaute family in 1867 and installed in 1882, this nearly 10-foot-wide clock was showcased at the 1889 Universal Exhibition alongside the Eiffel Tower. Maintaining such large and intricate mechanisms involves tasks like winding heavy gear systems, oiling moving parts, and addressing weather-related damage, as recently occurred when the clock’s dial was replaced after hailstone damage.

At the atelier located in Paris’s 10th Arrondissement, the team undertakes repairs and restorations ranging from cleaning and reassembling parts to fabricating new components when original pieces are unavailable—a frequent necessity given the age and rarity of many timepieces. The workshop includes specialized facilities for electromechanical clocks, a category introduced to the city in the 1920s.

One of the notably complex projects currently under Meschin’s care is the restoration of the Church of Saint-Paul Saint-Louis’s clock, noted for its 19th-century “jumping hour” disc display, an early example of a non-traditional timekeeping method. After a previous restoration had failed to fully address seasonal operational issues, the team has made modifications replacing wooden elements with metal to improve durability and precision.

Despite the extensive workload and the importance of preserving these historic mechanisms, the team faces challenges in addressing all the clocks requiring significant repairs—approximately 50 others remain waiting, some stored in the atelier and others still installed but nonfunctional. Due to time constraints and the meticulous nature of their work, the clockmakers acknowledge that fully restoring these additional clocks may not be feasible in the foreseeable future.

The Paris clockmaking workshop not only maintains functioning timepieces but also preserves a cultural and technical heritage, ensuring these historical clocks continue to mark the passage of time for residents and visitors alike.

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