Nibosi NI2506 "Joker" Review

A very cheap quartz homage of the famous Konstantin Chaykin "Wristmons", this AliExpress version comes in a variety of colours with different brand names on the dial, but mine is the black version from Nibosi because I thought it was the best looking one for the price.

Half-way between an inversion of the normal Joker and the Dracula, one of the most obvious let downs is that the fanged vampire teeth aren't white and can barely be seen unless close up.

I also doubt the claim that this watch is "Stainless Steel" other than the back, but it doesn't matter anyway since it's painted with a gloss black finish. I prefer this because any chips from wear and tear can be painted back in with enamel paint unlike with the chromed versions which will show the horrible copper colour underneath when the case is scratched and can never be covered up.

The strap is faux-leather but is made fairly well. The hair colour plus the collar and tie seems out of place because it's not exactly clear what this character is meant to be. It's a very comfortable strap straight away though which, of course, means that it will undoubtedly crack and fall apart quickly.

The underside is red and it all seems to be put together decently enough, but it will be the first thing to show signs of wear. I haven't seen any of these straps available to buy separately though, so once it's gone, it's gone. Any 20mm strap will fit when it needs to be changed.

The buckle is signed and fits the overall style, but it probably should have been gloss black too if you really think about it. It is actually stainless steel rather than chromed-brass and is very shiny.

Apart from the 2 Seiko PC21S movements to make the eyes, the rest of it is a standard 40mm watch (with a lug-to-lug of 48mm and only 9mm thick) which fits me perfectly.

Despite the novelty aspect, telling the time on it is easy, but it's takes a couple of hours to get used to. It would also have been much nicer (and creepier) if the eyes had been lumed.

Its happy little face is quite amusing to look at, and the tongue moves back and forth according to gravity. It's not a seconds tongue or a moonphase tongue unfortunately, but this is obviously only a £15 watch.

None of us are ever likely to own one of the limited edition Dracula watches that this was inspired by since Chaykin only made 12 of them.