Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Herbert Hoover and Elizabeth Taylor have all been guests at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, and each will have passed the renowned hotel's ornate foyer timepiece: the World's Fair Clock.
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Recently restored, the elaborate item was crafted for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and was later purchased by the Astor family to take pride of place as the first piece of furniture to catch guests' eyes as they entered the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria.
The clock, which is topped by a gilded miniature figure of Lady Liberty and stands proudly at nine feet tall, was commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas and features nods to both the Old and New Worlds.
The octagonal base of the clock bears the silver-plated faces of seven former US presidents and Queen Victoria, the reigning monarch from the time of its creation.
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Directly below each leader is a depiction of a scene that adequately illustrates one of their crowning achievements.
Paired with Queen Victoria is an image of what was then considered to be the foremost feat of her reign: the Forth Bridge.
Opened in 1890, the world-famous cantilever rail crossing was brand new when the clock appeared at Chicago's world's fair, and its very inclusion just goes to show how much it was admired thousands of miles from the Firth of Forth.
Aligned with Lady Liberty facing forward, the panel showing Queen Victoria and the Forth Bridge is what you would consider the true frontage of the clock.,
The other figures depicted are Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Grover Cleveland. New York's Brooklyn Bridge, opened in 1883, is also included on one of the lower panels.
The melody for the clock's quarterly chimes provides yet another British link, as it was copied from the clock at Westminster Cathedral.
For over a century, the clock has graced the Waldorf - first at its original site on 5th Avenue and 34th Street, and, since 1931, at its current location on Park Avenue and 49th Street.
Generations of guests at the luxury hotel have become familiar with the phrase "meet me at the clock".
In 2017, the Waldorf Astoria closed its doors for extensive renovations, and the clock, for the first time in its long history, was taken apart and given a long-overdue restoration.
It is expected to return to its rightful place when the famous hotel reopens later this year.
The depiction of Queen Victoria and the Forth Bridge haven't looked this good for almost 130 years.
