Photos: Brew
New York's yellow cab, rebuilt as a chronograph — checker stripe, taxi yellow, and a checkered hand to sweep it.
Verdict
| What it is | Brew Metric Chrono Taxi — 36mm cushion-case meca-quartz chronograph in the colours of a New York yellow cab |
| Price | $495 — Brew's own store, verified in stock Fri Oct 30, 2026 |
| Availability | Limited to 1,000 pieces, at Brew's own store |
| The angle | The theme is carried in the functional parts — the stripe, the subdials and the chronograph hand itself — not printed on as decoration |
| Verdict | A themed watch that earns the theme. The Metric's proportions do the rest. |
What it is
Start with the stripe. A black-and-white Checker stripe runs straight through the centre of a matte black dial — the pattern from the side of a classic cab — and the chronograph seconds hand is checkered to match, so the theme moves when the stopwatch runs. Taxi yellow does the legibility work: hour and minute hands, the minute track and the chronograph registers, with "New York" printed at six.
The watch underneath is Brew's established Metric: a 36mm 316L stainless steel cushion case, 41.5mm lug-to-lug and 10.75mm thick, sapphire crystal, on a brushed steel bracelet with quick-release spring bars. Turn it over and the caseback repeats the checker pattern in high polish, with Brew's coffee bean at the centre — the brand began as a watch for timing an espresso shot, and the mark stays. Inside is the Seiko VK68 meca-quartz chronograph: quartz timekeeping, a mechanical chronograph module, so the stopwatch hand sweeps and snaps back like a mechanical's.
Why it matters
City editions usually stop at a caseback engraving. This one rebuilds the dial around the reference, and puts the reference in the one part that moves. The judgement is simple: at $495, in a 1,000-piece run, the Taxi is the Metric to have if the standard dials read plain — and the 36mm case keeps it a watch first and a souvenir second.
Specs
| Brand | Brew |
| Model | Metric Chrono Taxi |
| Movement | Seiko VK68 meca-quartz chronograph — quartz timekeeping, mechanical chronograph module; hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, date |
| Case | 316L stainless steel cushion case, 36mm × 41.5mm lug-to-lug × 10.75mm thick (Brew's figures) |
| Dial | Matte black, Checker stripe through the centre, taxi-yellow hands and registers, checkered chronograph seconds hand, "New York" at 6 |
| Crystal | Sapphire |
| Bracelet | Stainless steel, brushed and polished, quick-release spring bars, folding clasp with micro-adjustment; 19.85mm lug width |
| Caseback | Stainless steel, polished checker pattern, Brew coffee bean at the centre |
| Water resistance | 5 ATM (50 metres) |
| Edition | Limited to 1,000 pieces |
What to check before buying
- It is meca-quartz, not mechanical. The chronograph feels mechanical; the timekeeping is quartz and battery-powered. That is the format's point — know it before paying for it.
- 36mm wears small, by design. The cushion case and 41.5mm lug-to-lug keep it compact. Brew publishes a 1:1 printable template on the product page — use it if you usually wear 40mm and up.
- 50 metres is splash resistance. Fine for rain and handwashing; it is not a swim watch.
- 1,000 pieces, one source. Brew's own store is the retail source at $495. Aftermarket prices on a themed limited are not a value guide.
Price record
| Price | $495 |
| Source | Brew's own store (brew-watches.com), verified in stock Fri Oct 30, 2026 |
| Featured on our Instagram | Fri Oct 30, 2026 — Spotted |
Want one?
- In the shop: browse current stock — one-off pieces, and they turn over fast.
- Hunting one? Join the Want List — tell us the maker and the budget; pieces like this surface in our trawl most weeks.
- This one: at the source — See it at Brew. Not our listing. See Disclosure.
Related picks
- RZE UTD-8080-ST — a digital module of their own
- TRASKA Commuter Electrum — an electrum-alloy case, 100 pieces
- Bulova Oceanographer on ShopGoodwill — a dual-day diver behind a "35 Jewels" listing title
Spotted, not sold by us — this piece lives at Brew. Prices are a snapshot from when we spotted it. Disclosure
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