The collection of timepieces in the Moscow Kremlin Museums contains about 200 exhibits dating from the 16th to the 20th century.
There are rare and in some cases unique early examples of pocket watches in precious cases and table clocks in ornate gilded copper cases. They were made in the leading art and watchmaking centres of Germany and France by famous masters, many of whom worked for the royal courts of Europe. Several examples with Geneva mechanisms are mounted in cases made in Istanbul. There are about thirty-five early clocks in the collection, which is quite a lot for national museums.
The pieces from the 18th and early 19th centuries represent all the European artistic styles of the period and include several commemorative pieces. The mechanisms of these creations are not very complex, but the watchcases are very expensive, fashionable and refined works of art in chased gold set with semi-precious stones and diamonds and adorned with tortoiseshell. This section of the collection includes three rare watches made by Breguet. All the mechanisms are known to exist in only one example, and their construction, with several hands, is very complex.
A worthy part of the collection is a massive bronze clock from the Parisian workshop of P.F. Tomir.
The group of items from the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century features samples of typical artistic products from various, mostly Swiss, companies, such as men's and women's watches in gold and silver cases decorated with enamel, precious stones, engraving and guilloche work. Of particular interest is the watch belonging to Feodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, as it was presented to the great singer by Emperor Nicholas II.