About us

I started Nixie Star in 2017 with one aim, and it has not changed: that the person who opens the box is happy with what is inside, on the first day and for years after it. Everything on this page follows from that.

Built for years

The Soviet Nixie tubes I use stopped being made in the 1980s. The ones that exist are all there will ever be, and every year there are fewer of them. That decided the design: a tube this rare should last as long as it can, and a clock should never be thrown away because one of them has worn out.

In 2019 I was one of the first to put the tubes in sockets instead of soldering them: a tube is changed by hand in about a minute, with no iron and no technician. In 2020 I was one of the first to add a motion sensor, so the tubes rest when the room is empty — the difference between a few years of tube life and many.

A little more than you expect

Most of my clocks ship with a spare tube in the box. In 2022 I was one of the first to add an ambient light under the case: it casts a soft glow onto the table or shelf the clock stands on.

Every tube is tested on a live board before it goes into a clock, and only the ones that glow evenly are used. Every clock is assembled and checked by hand in our workshop in Ukraine.

Next

I am not finished. I keep improving the clock and adding to what it can do, and I expect the one I build next year to do something this one does not.

If something goes wrong

Every clock carries a twelve-month warranty. Messages reach me, not a support desk, and I answer them myself, usually the same day. For a repair, the contact page says what to send so I can sort it in one reply; for anything else, the form below is the quickest way.