Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful but HUGE, October 20, 2008
As with all Invicta watches, it's worth noting that Invicta has quality control issues and seems to screw up repairs frequently - something that is especially frustrating considering they charge $25 under the "warranty" to repair your watch. That said, this is my third Invicta watch to arrive in pristine condition and without any problems. While I'll still be wearing my 8926 diver on a day-to-day basis, this is a beautiful sport watch that goes well with semi-casual and casual clothes. However, it won't work out well with dressy clothes - at least for me - because it is insanely large and showy. It's also quite heavy - not a problem for me as I'm a fairly large guy, but you definitely know you're wearing it. The biggest plus is the view of the mechanical chronograph movement from the back sapphire crystal. It's genuinely fascinating to watch it work, and the movement is pretty darn impressive for a watch at this price point. So far it's also been surprisingly accurate for me - it's only gained about a minute in the first 2-3 weeks that I've owned it. Finally, I got the 5103 (same watch as this except for the dial) because I thought the color was a bit more unique than the traditional black. The 5103 is sometimes listed as having a "brown" dial - definitely not true. It's somewhere between red and burgundy. This one is a straight-up black. Both are much more attractive in person than they look - they have almost a lacquered sheen to them.
EDIT: I've added the following in response to S. Polito's review below - I think it's probably stuff I would want to know before I bought the watch:
Although I'm not at all surprised by S. Polito's problems with Invicta's infamous service department, he misunderstands the purpose of the 6 o'clock dial (or, more accurately, lack thereof). Though it looks like it should tally the total number of hours being timed by the chronograph, it's actually an entirely superfluous dial, since it always indicates the current hour - i.e., it does the exact same thing the hour hand of the main watch face does. If you look at any picture of the watch, you'll see that it always matches the hour hand. Thus, while S. Polito is certainly right that the documentation is not at all clear about this, it's fairly easy to see how it works on the face of the watch and he definitely shouldn't have risked the infamous Invicta "service" department to try to get it "fixed."
For what it's worth, the movement is the "ST1902" by Seagull, an up-and-coming Chinese manufacturer of increasingly high-end movements (including, most recently, tourbillons). It seems to be a pretty solid movement based on the discussion I've found through googling it (also how I found out this info about the 6 o'clock dial). The ST1902 is basically a copy of an older, well-respected mechanical chronograph movement called the "Venus." It has several variants, and this is one with the superfluous dial. I don't mind it that much, since it's the same color as the watch face and thus doesn't stand out like the dials at 3 and 9, which are done up in silver. Some people who know how to mess with the watch have a way of "killing" the dial - i.e., making it not move at all. I'm not sure how that's any better, and I certainly am not gonna screw with the watch, but I guess it's an option if it really bothers you.
As should be obvious, I don't think it's a problem and I certainly still endorse getting the watch, which is great.
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual and large, March 23, 2009
First, it's unusual to find a mechanical chronograph in this price range. I would have likely kept it, except that it is so large (45mm). And pretty hefty, too.
Fit and finish seemed good for this price point, though timekeeping was not exceptionally accurate. I had it for a week, and it varied 10+ seconds/day. The subdial for hours (at the 6 o'clock position) is a bit of a joke (why not just delete it and have a date window?).
Overall, I'd say it's a decent watch if you're aware of the size and other quirks. Reading reports of bad warranty service would give me pause on buying another Invicta.
|
|
|
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not impressed, November 28, 2008
I purchased an Invicta model #5102 in late September, and immediately registered the warranty and filed a service case. I've made a couple of attempts to track the case. Each time the Invicta website said the task was completed successfully, and I would receive information in my e-mail. Since day one, I have yet to see anything arrive in my inbox from Invicta.
I filed the service case because the chronograph doesn't work. It's not too clear from the "user manual" which second hand is part of the chronograph function. Apparently it's the large center hand, not the small counter at 9 o'clock. The large second hand and the small minute counting hand respond to the start, stop, and reset buttons. Fine, but the small hour counter at 6 o'clock appears to be part of the chronograph, but once started, it will not stop or reset. Then again, it may be functioning correctly. If you look at the picture of the watch on the main page you'll notice the large second hand and small minute hand appear to have been reset to zero, but the small second and hour hands have not.
The "user manual" isn't much help. It's in quotes because it doesn't really exist. There's a very generic booklet that doesn't apply as it covers the functions of watches with features the #5102 doesn't have. At least, the generic "corrective" mode on pages 26 and 27 doesn't work with the #5102, but I'm sure if I had one of the watches with the big day and date, or date day and month, I'd have a working watch. But I don't. For owners of the #5102, there's a separate half page insert for watches with the mechanical 1902 movement. Other than the intro "thank you" sentence and the warranty disclaimer about unauthorized repairs, here is the "users manual" in its entirety:
"Function: Chronograph, Hour/minute/second hand at center, 30minutes/round hand at 3H, 12hours/round hand at 6H, second hand at 9H, manual.
user manual: stem at position "1", winding. stem at position "2", adjusting time. Press "M" pushbutton, stopwatch. Press "N" pushbutton, restoration.
technical parameter: Frequency: 21600 times/hr. Instantaneous daily rate: -15--+35 s/d; Autonomy:37 hr, Jewel: 22 jewel."
Not much help, as you can see. Just like the website. Based on the comments about Invicta quality control and what I've experienced so far, I suspect their on-line customer "interface" may be a black hole by design. It may be a useful tool to cut down the amount of warranty work.
I used their on-line customer deflection tool in the past because I'm a restaurant owner who's in the process of opening a bar. I work odd hours, and so far I haven't managed to call when their office is open. But really I haven't had time to pursue this seriously. I've had far more pressing business issues taking priority.
If I had paid anything close to full retail, I'd be seriously angry. As it is, I'm just irritated and am leaning towards dropping the watch off at a good local jeweler for an estimate. At this point, I'm not so concerned about voiding the remaining months of Invicta's not-so-wonderful 12 month warranty. If I can get the watch repaired at a reasonable cost, I'll do it. If not, well, I rarely use a stopwatch to time anything over an hour anyway. I'll just let that out-of-control hour counter on the chronograph act as a reminder not to buy another Invicta.
By the way, I bought a Stuhrling Manchester dual time zone watch at the same time. It's dressier than the Invicta, and it works as advertised. I couldn't be happier with the Stuhrling and highly recommend it.
The Invicta on the other hand gets 2 stars, and I think I'm being generous at that. The watch tells time, comes in a nice box, and looks pretty good.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
With its most inspired creations yet, Invicta demonstrates its technical and design prowess, offering timepieces of style for extreme value.
With each new timepiece, the company sends up a flare for those looking to be defined not by how much they spend, but how wisely they spend. With its strong collections, the gutsy Swiss brand is guaranteed to keep attracting followers.
