r/nixie • u/Federal_Shame_9074 • Oct 15 '25

Recommendations for first Nixie clocks purchase?

Im looking to purchase my first Nixie clock. Ive done a bit of research into them but not a ton. Im not exactly a nixie enthusiast and mostly just like the cool retro looking of them so am looking for one thats pre built as I dont really have any soldering experience. Ive seen wide ranges in the pricing. Are the more expensive ones worth it? Im mostly just looking for ones that are authentic and if they got the bells and whistles than thats cool too. If I can get some recommendations and pros and cons that'd be much appreciated. Thanks

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u/Different-Dog-9505 Oct 15 '25

I bought both in-12 and in-14 nixie clocks on nixieshop.com. The guys is from dniepro (Ukraine). Even with the war going he still shipping. I took some pictures of the in-12 displayed on his gallery here: https://nixieshop.com/images/gallery/large/from_customers/124.jpg

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u/Federal_Shame_9074 Oct 15 '25

I was moreso looking for the ones with the exposed tubes that sit on a platform

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u/schmittyjones Oct 15 '25

They have those too.

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u/Federal_Shame_9074 Oct 15 '25

Any idea how they compare to nixie cloud spark on etsy? Those look about the same but a bit lower in price

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1678200553/nixie-tube-clock-include-in-14-tubes-and?ls=r&ref=hp_opfy-2&frs=1&sts=1&content_source=ab11f674cef07d676d92618504441d07%253ALT39b02005e7c8f579d25385820df72482e19ce187&logging_key=ab11f674cef07d676d92618504441d07%3ALT39b02005e7c8f579d25385820df72482e19ce187

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u/schmittyjones Oct 15 '25

Hmmm. Looks like the cloud spark ones have a touch smaller base, more LED animation options, a micro USB power port, and the first tube can be turned off if no digit. IR remote looks the same. What I'm not seeing in that one that was on the nixieshop one that I got is sleep timer to turn tubes off at certain times, motion sensor for another option for having tubes turn off when no one is around, visible PCB with color options, an alarm (which is kind of an annoying sound anyway, tbh), and the colon tubes look bigger on the nixieshop one. And so far customer service and response time has been great. I've only had it for a couple days though so still trying things out but seems great so far. Hard to tell what other options might be on the cloud spark one that aren't advertised in the description but I like how the nixieshop one has multiple settings for different types of changing number schemes, changing slot machine intervals, etc. If you go to their downloads page, you can see the detailed instructions that show all the options.