The first-generation Lexus IS was launched, to mixed acclaim, with a gauge cluster that mimicked a chronograph-style watch. It was certainly unique, and no other car since has made a speedometer that looked quite as much like a nice timepiece. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Lexus USA came full-circle, and commissioned some chronograph-style chronographs to mirror its chronograph-style gauges, but here we are.
Here’s a full-sized version of that gauge cluster picture, just so you can bask in its high-resolution glory:
My editor sent me this eBay listing months ago, and as of this writing, nobody’s taken the seller up on their $1,400 asking price for a matching set of a wall clock plus his-and-hers watches made to look like the IS300’s gauge pod. Nobody needs this, probably, but everybody should know that it exists.
It features the exact gauge face of the IS, with the chronographs substituted for actual chronograph stuff like a 24-hour clock, timer, and current setting. I’m not a fan of the fact that it uses the original 240km/h speedometer as the main ring, but I am not in the market anyway. The face, for a genuine piece, just looks cheap and fake. Looks literally no different from the many hundreds of fakes that are made. A lone, very cool detail stands out from the face: The needles are modeled exactly after the real IS300 needles. Big fan of that.
The case itself is boring, but the back of the case looks pretty cool. It has a custom cast (or engraved, can’t tell) Lexus “L” logo and the “Lexus IS300” prominently featured. The engraving around the edge informs us that these watches were made for Lexus by HW House watches of Copenhagen, in Denmark. Apparently, this is also a 100-meter diver’s watch made fully of stainless steel.
“Genuine leather” is used for the strap, with clasps that say “Lexus” on the men’s version, and “IS 300” on the women’s version… that’s about it! Honestly, the coolest part of these watches is everything but the faces. Oh, they also come with a real snazzy leather case embossed with the same “Lexus IS300” like the backs of the watches.
The ugliest but also the coolest part of the watch set is the wall clock, which feels totally lazy but somehow incredible at the same time. It might even be campy — it’s dangerous adjacent to clocks that look like wheels or tin signs that say “DAD’S GARAGE” you might find on the discount rack at an auto parts store. It’s adorable that they just took an IS300 gauge face and printed it out on an ugly looking clock with a huge bezel. Is it Bauhaus? Is it mid-century? It’s so weird!
These watches are only for the most obsessed Lexus enthusiast, frothing to complete their personal IS300 shrine. At $1,400, these have been up for sale since September 2020. Clearly, the buyer for these watches hasn’t come yet. Maybe one of you IS300 superfans who read our Car Autance needs this?
