The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel is celebrating 125 years of iconic style with a stunning timepiece at the center of it all.

The Mystery Lady timepiece stands about 10 feet tall, confident of her place in the lobby at The Roosevelt New Orleans. Amid crystal chandeliers, mosaic tile floors, gilt walls and coffered ceilings, the robed beauty gracefully welcomes guests who marvel at her golden scepter and her base carved from solid Algerian onyx.

Every Waldorf Astoria in the world boasts a distinctive lobby timepiece, a tradition inspired by the famous clock in the original New York property. The Roosevelt’s bronze antiquity—purchased through venerable local dealer M. S. Rau—lures passersby, mesmerized by the gilded scepter soundlessly rotating in her hand. Unlike traditional clocks, whose pendulum swings side to side, a conical clock’s moves in a circular motion. Most often held by a maiden or other figure, the pendulum is driven by a mechanism hidden inside the base.

This unforgettable lady of the lobby carries an impeccable pedigree: She is a one-of-a kind, museum-piece clock, crafted by two of France’s most important 19th-century artisans, sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (a mentor to Auguste Rodin) and clockmaker Eugène Farcot. Featured at the 1867 and 1878 Paris Exhibitions, Mystery Lady is the largest conical clock known in existence—half-statue, half-engineering marvel, with bells that chime on the hour and half hour.

Only a handful of Farcot’s monumental conical clocks are known to exist. Perhaps it is the lady’s due then to stand so tall and so proudly, as she transforms the relentless march of time into a graceful pas de deux of beauty and science.

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To meet the Mystery Lady Timepiece, book your stay at The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel and toast to 125 years.