Dubbed the Tiffany Taxi, the car clock features two independent movements with their own power source

On Monday, Tiffany & Co. unveiled a US$50,000 clock inspired by a 1950s New York City taxicab, dubbed The Tiffany Taxi. The stylish feat of horology is based on the Golden Age’s popular Tailfin Fender with a yellow taxi sign above its windshield. Handcrafted in aluminium, it sports an eye-catching paint job in the jeweller’s signature Tiffany Blue, as well as a licence plate that nods to the brand. But we’re more intrigued with what’s under the hood.

The Tiffany Taxi houses a clock that features two independent movements with their own power source. Designed for timekeeping, the first movement sits in the driver’s seat. Its hours and minutes are displayed by rotating stainless-steel disks on the air filters that feed the dual carburettor banks on top of the engine. The eight-day movement is regulated by a visible 2.5 Hertz escapement in the “driver cap” and is powered by a mainspring visible in the passenger seat. You can set the clock with a counterclockwise rotation via its three-spoke steering wheel.

You won’t be able to burn rubber with the model-car clock, but the dashboard key does start the engine—triggering the pistons of the V-8 to go up and down. The second movement, which is completely independent of the time movement, powers the engine. Tiffany also placed a manual-gear lever in the car for you to select between winding the time movement, winding the engine, or placing it in neutral. All you have to do is select the suitable gear and pull the car backwards to wind it up.

This, of course, is not the first time Tiffany & Co. has created a car that tells time. Last year, the LVMH-acquired jeweller unveiled a clock inspired by vintage racers as part of Tiffany’s Time for Speed collection. The first limited-edition version of the racer clock, which was priced at US$215,000, featured 316 round brilliant diamonds collectively weighing 19 carats.

As for this year’s Tiffany Taxi, its dimensions come in at compact 14 centimetres high, 19 centimetres wide, 47 centimetres long, and it weighs 5.3 kilograms. It will be available starting globally this month, with an exclusive edition up for grabs at The Landmark. You’ll find it at the 727 Fifth Avenue location in N.Y.C. with a gold and blue licence plate that reads “NY-727” as an ode to the iconic address for US$52,000.

This story was first published on Robb Report USA