Nixie tubes are among the coolest retro electronics ever. Clocks based on them have been made by enthusiasts and by different companies, but this one’s the king. Sleek, well-made and precise.

Let’s start with what we see: the materials and lamps. There’s no plastic, the casing is made out of massive cherry wood and a plate of beautifully-reflective anodized aluminium, and the tubes are amongst the clearest and best-looking ever. The warm glowing digits are 0.61”/15.5mm high, and the clock can be set to display 12/24h time (with the possibility of suppressing leading zeroes) or the date (both in dd/mm and mm/dd formats, for worldwide compatibility).

Now for the works: the ‘ultra precise real time clock’ has an accuracy of 0,0003s/minute (that’s actually 3 sec/week, just like a run-of-the-mill quartz clock). The ‘state of the art circuitry’ allows for some interesting features:

• Cross fading: there are several modes available
• Power down mode: for power and tube life saving, you can turn them off, leaving only the clock on
• The user settings are always stored
• It even has an alarm
• A backup battery keeps the clock alive for 10 years with no external power

You can pick up this average-sized (22,5 x8,9×9 cm) but timelessly cool clock at nixieclock.net for a hefty $385.