AKnight AK2113G "Celebration Dial" Review

A relatively new watch from a very new AliExpress mushroom brand, there's no prizes for guessing from where this homage draws its inspiration.

You get everything you need in the box to set this quartz 3-hander up including instructions, a cleaning cloth, and a useful (but easily broken) plastic tool for resizing the bracelet.

There's not a lot to this watch other than the dial which is similar to the Rolex Celebration dial superficially. The indices aren't the same, and the original version of this particular AKnight watch was supposed to have a date complication, but they removed it for reasons known only to themselves. It's even stranger because AKnight left the date and the double batons on the rest of their coloured OP homages.

I didn't even take the plastic off the brushed stainless steel bracelet, let alone resize it, because it doesn't quite match the high polish of the chrome-plated case.

Yes, this is a chrome-plated case (I know a lot of you are terrified of them), but it's a good one. The quality is much the same as the Pagani Design chrome-plated cases, or Chenxi, or in British terms, a Sekonda. In other words, it's better than the really cheap AliExpress watches where a harsh rubbing with any kind of soft cloth will leave the copper underneath showing. But, because this is still an AliExpress watch, it'll never be as good as the plating on a Timex. It will scratch, and it will eventually look bad, but because I'm careful with my things, it'll be many years before that happens.

Let's get back to that bracelet though. This is a heavy thing which I believe weighs 130g, and it even has solid end links! Admittedly they are half-depth solid end links, but they aren't a bad fit. Minus the bracelet, the watch head itself weighs only about 40g. There's nothing really inside the case other than a mineral crystal, a Miyota quartz movement worth about £1, a 377 battery, and the dial and hands, so of course, it weighs next to nothing.

The clasp is just a cheap pressed, push button thing with no micro adjustment possible. I've had these before and can't ever get the clasp to sit in the right place under my wrist no matter how many links I remove or put back. It's always too tight or too loose, although your mileage may vary. I don't like these bracelets at all, but if you have big wrists, there are enough links on this one for it to fit a 10 inch wrist. It's really rather wasteful.

The bigger problem for me is that the bracelet is brushed without even having the centre link polished. Considering that this bracelet is identical to the ones used on the cheap Arlanch watches, and those have polished centre links, it's very odd. Skmei did the same mismatch with their Tissot PRX homage too.

The dial is the star of the show, however, and for all the other shortcomings of this cheap quartz watch, it's very well done. There's no lume on the indices, only on the hands, and some of the indices are a bit wonky, but not badly so. The design with the coloured balls (or little OP Stella dials) makes the logo look lopsided, but it's the same on the original Rolex and the Bliger homage (which boasts a stainless steel case, sapphire, an automatic movement, and only 30m water resistance).

Even though the batons are only doubled at the 12 o'clock rather than 3, 6, 9 like a real OP, the dial itself gets the point across that this is supposed to be something more expensive.

The case shape isn't the same as a Rolex Oyster Perpetual either, the size at 39mm is half-way between the 36mm and 41mm Rolex sizes, and this is quartz with a little trident counterbalance on the seconds hand, so those "in the know" realise that this is an homage rather than a blatant copy. The previously mentioned Bliger is not safe from criticism for being almost a 1:1 clone however.

All the usual important details are on the case back including a claimed water resistance of 50m which I won't believe until I test it for myself. I'd guess that this is splash proof and rain proof, but not paddling pool proof.

I changed the bracelet for a 20mm leather strap (actually from my Lorus Mickey Mouse watch), and it does the job. I wanted to wear this watch as soon as possible, but I may get a Tiffany blue strap for it later. The case is a deep little thing at just over 10mm though, so I might not go for a nato.

I took everything outside for a picture in daylight, and it looks quite good really. The seconds hand hits all the markers too, and that's always a bonus.

How much did it cost? £17.29 including tax. That makes this round about the same price as a Sekonda here anyway so there was no great saving this time by going foreign. It's as cheap as a Casio and it looks better, if you want to put it in more general terms.

Do I recommend this watch? Well, for me, I do. You may hate it as much as the original Rolex though because that dial is certainly not for everyone.