Joseph Mayer and Bros. jewelry business was founded in Seattle in 1897. The company also manufactured a number of street clocks during the first few decades of the 1900s. In 1916, Japanese residents of Washington, Montana, and Alaska commissioned a clock from Joseph Mayer & Bros. to present as a gift to Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan. The clock had four engraved silver faces, telling the time in Seattle, Tokyo, Greenwich and New York. The fifteen-foot tall clock was mounted on a bronze and onyx base, with plate glass exposing the clock works inside. The globe at the top was encircled by a silver and bronze meridian, with a polished bronze ball representing the sun. According to a Seattle Times article from May 14, 1916, the gradations along the meridian could be used to read the current time for any area of the globe.

This photo depicts the clock commissioned from Joseph Mayer and Bros. as gift for the Crown Prince of Japan. It is unknown whether he ever received this gift, or if the clock is still in existence today.

Photograph was possibly taken by Austin Seward.