Tiffany & Co. Unveils Its Restored Historic Astronomical Clock for the 250th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence
Tiffany & Co. has unveiled its historic Astronomical Clock, created for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and newly restored, to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Unveiled on July 3, the clock is now on public display at The Landmark, the house’s flagship store at 727 Fifth Avenue in New York.
Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
Summary
- Tiffany & Co. has restored and unveiled its historic Astronomical Clock, created for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago
- The movement houses 21 complications, mostly astronomical; a one-of-a-kind complication counts the years since American independence and will display “250th” in 2026
- Acquired by Tiffany in 2025, the clock underwent a meticulous seven-month restoration at the house’s watchmaking atelier in Geneva
- Following its July 3 debut, it is now on public display at The Landmark, the Fifth Avenue flagship
- The Louis XV-style case stands roughly 2.5 meters tall and was built over more than two years under master clockmaker Joseph Lindauer
A Masterpiece Born for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
The clock was created in the fourth-floor workshop of Tiffany’s Union Square store under the direction of Joseph Lindauer, the house’s master clockmaker. Taking more than two years to complete, it stands as a landmark in the house’s clockmaking history.
The Louis XV-style case rises roughly 2.5 meters, adorned with graceful floral carvings and intricate marquetry. On its front, thirteen silver and painted dials with gilt borders are set into a frame inlaid with California mother-of-pearl.
A Seven-Month Restoration in Geneva
Acquired by Tiffany in 2025, the clock was painstakingly restored over roughly seven months at the house’s watchmaking atelier in Geneva, with meticulous attention paid both to its outward beauty and to its performance as a precision mechanical timepiece.
The restoration and its unveiling, timed to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, underscore the role Tiffany has played in the history of clockmaking and its legacy of exceptional craftsmanship. As custodian of this singular piece of cultural heritage, the house sees itself as honoring its origins while preserving history for collectors and historians alike.
Twenty-One Complications, Many Layers of Time
What sets the Astronomical Clock apart is its 21 complications, which capture the intricate interplay of celestial bodies within a single clock. Many are rarely seen in modern watchmaking, and together they fuse multiple notions of time — from a 365-day calendar and 24-hour display to mechanisms that directly track astronomical phenomena.
The clock features a Westminster carillon that chimes the hours and quarter hours, a perpetual calendar that displays everything from the signs of the zodiac to leap years, hour and minute indications for local time, Greenwich Mean Time and Washington, D.C. time, and a world time function showing the local hour in 31 cities around the globe. It also renders the apparent positions of the sun and the moon, sunrise and sunset times, the phases of the moon, and even the tides, depicted by a sea sitting on the horizon.
Most remarkable of all is a complication found nowhere else: a display counting the years since American independence in 1776, which will read “250th” in 2026. Rare astronomical indications such as the Julian period, the equation of time, and the solar and lunar declinations are also on board.
Three further complications — the solar cycle, the dominical letter, and the epact derived from the golden number — are exceptionally rare even on their own. Combined, they can calculate the ecclesiastical full moon after the spring equinox, determining Easter as the first Sunday that follows.
A Clockmaking Story That Began in 1847
Tiffany’s clockmaking history dates back to 1847, when the house began selling watches and clocks. It opened an office and watch assembly atelier in Geneva in 1868, followed by a manufacture in the heart of the city in 1874. Working on both sides of the Atlantic, Tiffany’s watchmakers developed and patented a series of innovative mechanisms built on exceptional technical skill and horological expertise.
Emerging anew for the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Astronomical Clock is a living testament to Tiffany’s design, craftsmanship and restless pursuit of innovation — and, for anyone visiting New York, a piece of horological history worth seeing in person at The Landmark.
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