Are Nibosi Watches Any Good?

People are always worried about whether inexpensive Chinese watch brands are worth spending money on. It's a fair question to ask. Over the years, I've had pretty good luck with inexpensive Chinese watch brands but, every once in awhile, I'll get a lemon.  However, when it comes to Nibosi watches, I've generally been pleased by the value I've received from every purchase. The brand is poised at a sweet spot in watch pricing with most of their offerings priced between $25 and $45 on Amazon. In the $30 range, almost anyone can afford to buy a Nibosi watch. Plus, there are often some great discounts and deals.

The answer is - Yes. Nibosi makes good watches.  They are well built and a great value for the price.

You can see the value from this brand in my small collection of Nibosi watches.

Nibosi watches

In terms of build quality, I've been pleased by my Nibosi watches. Most Nibosi watches use stainless steel for the case, caseback, and often the bracelet. They are somewhat water resistant, but I tend to err on the side of caution and remove watches before washing dishes, showering, or swimming.

My Nibosi Watch Collection

This brand offers both homage and independently-styled watches that are generally well conceived and well executed. I have two Nibosi Homage watches and two Nibosi styled watches. 

Nibosi Datejust President Homage. I have one Nibosi that is an obvious homage to the Rolex "Presidential" Datejust (below) models.  The watch sells for just less than $40. It has decent construction and looks pretty nice.  It has working date and day windows.

Nibosi Rolex Datejust Homage

This one has a bit of a Chinese typo on the dial's small print.  It brags of "superlative chronometery." That flaw aside, this watch proved to be a great opportunity to try out the fluted bezel style.

Nibosi Datejust Homage Fluted Bezel

Nibosi Patek Philippe Homage. The most stunning watch in my Nibosi collection is this Patek Philippe homage that looks much like a watch that retailed for over $224,000.  While it is far flashier than my normal watches, it is fun to wear. It's all stainless steel, typo-free, and comfortable to wear. It has multifunction subdials that accurately record the date, day of the week, 24-hour time, and provide a moonphase complication.  Amazingly, this watch was available for less than $10. It's just a fun-to-wear watch that you can give to any mugger on the subway.

Nibosi Patek Philippe Homage

Nibosi Stainless Steel Chronograph. If you are looking for a watch that is less obviously an homage, this chronograph is solidly constructed and attractively styled. The bracelet is not quite as well finished as watches from established brands like Casio, Timex, or Bulova. I felt like some of the metal edges of the bracelet were a little sharper and rougher than than the bracelets of more established brands. Still it is a nice looking watch and pretty decent for daily wear.

Nibosi Stainless Steel Chronograph

You can read my full review of this Nibosi chronograph watch in this post. At the low price point, this watch is a great value.

Nibosi Black Stainless Steel Watch. Finally, my black stainless steel watch is a simple no-date watch with a minimalist dial and elegant gold-tone markers and hands. It's an exceptionally comfortable watch for everyday wear. You can read my review of this amazingly inexpensive watch here in this post.

Nibosi Black Stainless Steel Watch

Nibosi watches aren't perfect, but they are a good value for the money and they can help make watch collecting fun and affordable again. If you'd like to check out Nibosi watches on Amazon, you can find them here via my affiliate link.

Ten Dollar Tuesday: Nibosi Men's Square Quartz Chronograph with Diamonds

 Can you get a square quartz chronograph watch with diamonds and a moonphase subdial? No.  I don't quite think so. But, you can get square quartz multifunction watch with diamonds and a moon phase subdial. Nibosi is offering this Patek Philippe homage for just under $10 on Amazon. Let me explain the watch below:

Nibosi Quartz "Chronograph" Watch (Amazon Photo) 

The Amazon copy says it's a chronograph, but the photo clearly shows a watch with a multi-function dial including the day of the week, the date, the 24-hour time, and a moonphase complication. It also has "diamonds" embedded in the bezel. While it may not be a chronograph, I believe this watch will deliver a nice looking watch with working subdials..  That's why I ordered it.

I have bought a few Nibosi watches and they all seem pretty good.  They aren't perfect, but they are certainly worth a $20 to $40 price tag. Of course, you could pay $244,000 for a similar watch from Patek Philippe. But, the subdials on the one I saw lack the symmetry of the subdial layout on the Nibosi. In addition, quartz movements require less maintenance beyond battery changes. These advantages make the Nibosi the obvious choice.  You can get it here via my Amazon affiliate link.

Wristwatch Review: Nibosi Men's Black Stainless Steel Quartz Watch

I recently came across a Nibosi Men's Stainless Steel Quartz Watch in black for only $11.99 on Amazon. It was an incredible deal. 

Nibosi Black Quartz Watch

This is my third Nibosi watch, but in terms of build quality, it may be my best one.

Nibosi Watch Features

This Nibosi watch is minimalist in terms of features. It's a simple straight forward design with a quartz movement. This watch is impressive in terms of style, fit, finish, and price. 

For a very inexpensive watch, the Nibosi watch was well packaged

The watch has all stainless steel construction and a good quality deployant clasp.

The Deployant Clasp of the Nibosi Black Stainless Steel Watch

Nibosi Watch Style

This watch is visually striking with a black case, bracelet, and dial contrasted by gold tone hands and markers. While Nibosi makes plenty of homage watches, this one seems to be created in a style of their own that is well within mainstream watch expectations. Sometimes, I like the independence of an affordable watch that isn't an homage to a classic.

Nibosi Black Stainless Steel Quartz Watch

The stainless steel bracelet makes great use of glassy black outer links and flat black interior links. This alternating use of color and text provides subtle visual interest. 

The contrast between out and inner link finishes is subtle

In day-to-day wear, I find that the gold-tone hands and markers really catch the light and reflect well in low light or fading light conditions.

Nibosi Watch Construction

This Nibosi watch has a stainless steel caseback, bracelet, and case. It also has a flat mineral glass crystal. The watch has 100 feet (30-meters) of water resistance. It's not for swimming, showering, or immersion, but it should be resistant to incidental splashes and rain.

Nibosi Stainless Steel Caseback

I didn't see any obvious cost cutting in this watch. It seems very competitive with low cost watches found in stores. I'd say that build quality far exceeds similarly priced watches from brands like George. The watch doesn't have any sharp edges or anything that would dig into the wrists. It's comfortable for all day wear.

Nibosi Watch Dimensions

For me, this Nibosi watch is perfectly proportioned. The case is about 42mm in diameter and 9.65mm thick. The bracelet is about 21mm wide and about 220mm long. 

Overall Impressions of the Nibosi Black Quartz Watch

This watch won't impress people with its pedigree, but it is a nicely priced watch with great features and style for the price. It's another watch that pressures Timex and Casio to bring us nicer watches at lower prices. I like this watch quite a bit. As an IT worker, the economy has kicked me around a bit lately. An incredible watch bargain is a nice way to kick back.

Where to Buy the Nibosi Black Watch

You can get a this watch in black with gold accent tones here via my affiliate link to Amazon.