Inspired by one of the most distinctive and instantly recognisable pieces of contemporary independent watchmaking, the new Joker Classic by Russian master watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin revisits his original “Wrist Monster” which was released in a 99 piece limited edition novelty at the 2017 Baselworld expo, but whose impish facial features, with its boggle eyes and crazed grinning mouth, captured the hearts of collectors around the world.

Selling out completely before the event was even over, the Joker became one of the most talked about watches of the biggest industry exhibition of the year, and its success catapulted a watchmaker, already well known to afficionados of the independent sector for his profoundly complex horologic innovations, to a much more mainstream audience. It also spawned a series of more than thirty limited editions of Chaykin “Wristmons”, whose popularity has cemented this charming, quirky and playfully themed wristwatch as an unprecedented icon of independent watchmaking.

Deceptively similar in appearance to the original, the Joker Classic is in fact an entirely new creation, and features a number of subtle yet significant changes to its predecessor, most notably the now more compact 40mm diameter case, as opposed to 42mm, and a new, more refined, self-winding Swiss movement.

With hours and minutes indicated via the black pupils on its large round eyeballs, the Joker’s display is unconventional yet intuitively easy to read. The smooth white discs rotate within anthracite rings which are marked for the hours (left) and minutes (right). A guilloché applique ‘nose’ separates the eyes, while the passage of the moon is depicted as the tongue, which moves from right to left across the wide grinning mouth.

The smaller case means that the dial is also scaled down proportionally, although with the size of the eyes unchanged, they are now even more pronounced and prominent than before, while a new radial hobnail guilloché pattern is another distinguishing feature of the display.

Manufactured in stainless steel, with a mostly brushed finish, apart from subtle accents on the angles of the lugs, the case has a flat waist and features a slimmer bezel, with the four suits of playing cards and the letter J laser etched into its surface. The opposing crowns at the three and nine o’clock positions add to the face-like aesthetic, but are functional, with the former (3) for setting the time, and the latter a push-button corrector for the moon phase adjustment.

On the underside, a sapphire crystal now replaces the solid caseback of the original, and it reveals the new and specially designated K.18-18 movement which beats within.

Developed and finished by La Joux-Perret to Konstantin Chaykin’s specifications, it is a more refined mechanism to its predecessor, and is coupled with Chaykin’s Joker module.  Running at a brisk 28,800 vib/h (4Hz) it also boasts an impressive 68 hours of power reserve, and features detailing such as côtes de Genève decoration, polished chamfers, and Konstantin Chaykin’s own in-house partially openworked rotor.

A welcome return of a much loved novelty, the Joker Classic will be offered in two versions; one in the same colour scheme as the original, featuring a white dial with green and red detail on black leather strap with green stitching and folding clasp, while the other option has a darker grey dial accented by burgundy and red detail and red stitching.

Production is capped at 100 pieces in each version per year.