Vampires only come out at night – so do the fangs on Konstantin Chaykin’s Joker Dracula!!
I know I’m about 6 months late, as the watch was released for Halloween 2018, but I just had to include it after having on my wrist at Baselworld.
This is the second “mechanical monster” for Halloween by Konstantin Chaykin, following the bronze cased pumpkin watch of Halloween 2017, another menacing looking piece, also with the same mechanical concept as the well known “Joker” series.
Konstantin Chaykin proposes his own vision of Dracula, 121 years from his inception on the pages of Bram Stoker’s novel about a vampirous aristocrat:
Starting from now, “Dracula” is the son of “Joker”. At least in the realm of high watchmaking art, and filmmakers have yet to realize this revelation
Konstantin Chaykin Joker Dracula
Face & case
The case is 42mm, stainless steel with a black PVD coating, with the word DRACULA embossed in capital letters in red, at equidistant intervals around the bezel.
Moving inwards, beneath the sapphire, the white (almost corrugated looking) menacing joker face stares out with it’s crazy eyes and insane looking mouth being the first things to notice. The red eyes indicate the time; the left eye showing the hours and the right showing the minutes. Both indications are shown by slightly raised rings with 4 red numbers and 8 dots stamped in a “ye olde” font, meaning each ring has 12 clear markers to easily distinguish time.
Between the eyes, forming the nose and forehead of the face, there is a hatched guilloche style plate, with another polished plate on top of this at the top of the forehead, clearly branded “Konstantin Chaykin” and his Logo below.
The wide Joker’s mouth takes up almost half of the bottom section of the face. The red tongue can be seen through an aperture, which actually acts as a moonphase indicator.
During the day, the watch appears to be like any of the other familiar Joker series, however, at 10pm, teeth begin to drop from inside the mouth; the sharp teeth and vampire fangs being fully revealed at midnight. The teeth then start to retreat at 6am and by 8am they are fully concealed for the daytime.
There is a crown on either side of the face, appearing almost like ears for Dracula; both with the Konstantin “K” logo stamped on the end and both with different mechanical functions.
The case back in this prototype version shown has a central sapphire window, with the rotor visible, surrounded by embossed relief text. I believe the version available to purchase has a dragon engraved in relief around the sapphire window.
Konstantin Chaykin Joker Dracula Case Back
Movement
The movement is based on an ETA 2824-2, however it has been modified by Konstantin Chaykin, to produce the unique K.18-7 Dracula caliber, with 33 jewels and 77 module parts.
The K.18-7 runs at a frequency of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour and expect around 38 hours of power reserve, if fully wound.
Konstantin Chaykin Joker Dracula Crown
Strap
The strap is available as standard with a black alligator strap, with red stitching and red leather lining, however can also be ordered with a hand-painted white bow tie and red lapels. (I’m fairly sure with the uniqueness of this watch, Konstantin would likely entertain other strap requests to further enhance Dracula.)
The pin buckle is also PVD coated stainless steel and features the Konstantin Chaykin logo to one side.
Konstantin Chaykin Joker Dracula Buckle
Other stuff
The dial of new Dracula watch is twice as complex as that of Joker. All “mechanical monsters” models of the “Wrist Monster” line are produced by Konstantin Chaykin according to strict Haute Horlogerie rules and traditions, which means every Dracula watch demands much more attention, time and hand work compared to the traditional Joker series of watches.
Konstantin Chaykin Joker Dracula on the Wrist
Our verdict
Like the rest of his Joker series, Konstantin Chaykin’s Joker Dracula really suits my non conformist personality – my inner child also wants to giggle every time I see Dracula’s fangs come out.
The watch is the perfect size for my wrist. It’s also very well weighted and I have to say looks pretty good on my wrist too.
Only 13 pieces will ever be made, so it’s not likely you’ll see many (if any) in this world or the underworld.
At a price of €18,970, this seems to be a very well priced piece, considering the uniqueness and also technical effort that has gone into the modification of the Swiss movement.
I can’t wait to see Konstantin’s next Halloween monster creation (on a different theme, his Mars Conqueror was also released a couple of weeks ago too, which I’d love to get a proper look at!!)
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