[dedward]

imported post

Invicta Reserve Men's Specialty Subaqua 5215
Invictas specs.
•Bracelet: Stainless steel
•Movement: Swiss ETA 251.272 quartz chronograph
•Crystal: Flame Fusion
•Crown: Screw down w/ function pushers
•Clasp: Deployant
•Bracelet Measurements: 9" L x 31mm W
•Case Measurements: 52mm
•Water Resistance: 50 ATM - 500m - 1650ft
Heres my specs. weight,373.2 grams.okay, thats just plain heavy.
Case diameter excluding crown.52mm.
Height.20mm
lug width.25mm.
lug to lug.I measure this from what will contact the wrist.not the overall
length.its 52mm.The lughorns are down turned, making this one fit, at least
my own wrist which is 7 1/4.
bracelet width.31mm at the lugs and tapers to 26mm at the clasp.
bracelet thickness.5mm.
non rotating bezel.The bezel screws are only for the bezel attachment.

This watch uses a cage to support the mid case by using 4 screws.2 at
9 oclock and 2 at 3 oclock.remove those and the bezel and the case will
slide out of the cage.
Dial.Really nice,Invicta does dials better than any other company,
especially the mother of pearl dials.most of those are done using Australian pearl.

markers, numbers and indices on the dial.Again, very good.legible with
no bleeding.

flame fusion crystal.No idea what that is.But its stated that this crystal is
triple ar coated.I don't doubt this as the blue really shows.

caseback.Pretty good.But Invicta doesn't tighten the screws enough and you'll
need to check those when it arrived.

crown and pusher.Very good.These function as they should with no play
in the crown stem.

clasp.Again, this is done very well using the standard clasp with a flip lock.

So far, this watch is really scoring well.About an 8 out of 10.But
there is a huge problem with these.The attachment point to the lugs.
Theres 3 methods for doing this.Friction pin,springbar, lugtube and screws.
I guess theres now 4.For this series,Invicta decided to use a tube with
a fake screw.These push in and over time will fall out.Theres no threads
on these.For mine,I applied a liquid metal welder to them so they won't
pop off.Another glaring fault is the use of tritinite as the lume.
This wouldn't be much of a problem if it was applied evenly.

I'll need to send this to kent parks and have c-3 luminova applied.Whats
on it now is junk.
In conclusion, my thoughts about this watch only.Its very well built and
worth what I paid.Even with the faults listed, I'll be keeping this one.

 

[TVDinner]

imported post

Good review and pictures. Thanks again for posting that.

I have one of these (silver and black) and love it.

Some questions for you since you have a huge amount of higher end watches.

1) How does this watch (just this model, not the overall company) compare, in your opinion, to the luxury brands. I ask because I have worn mine into a few local AD of some luxury brands (Breitling, Omega, Rolex, etc). At one of the stores the manager is a friend of mine. I have had them ask to see the watch. I know these people and they have no reason to kiss my ass because they know I can not afford the watches they have that I want. They are ALWAYS honest about the watches I wear and they have told me some of mine are cheap or crap to them. All good. Well with the SAS they actually were very positive. One guy looked at it under a loop and really inspected all of it for a while (bracelet, case, looked online at specs, etc etc). He said it compared from a build standpoint to many of the higher end watches they sold. I was pleased to hear that, but also surprised. what is your honest opinion on this since you have actual hands on experience with the other luxury brands mentioned.

Next - I just checked the screws on the case back of mine and they seem tight. I do not want to over tighten for no reason. Could yours just have come loose?

Thanks.

 

[dedward]

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Mine were torqued down, but while inspecting them, they weren't tightened enough.alittle more so they wouldn't come loose.You're asking me to compare just this Invicta to a higher end watch like a Omega or breitling?I'd need to photograph both for a visual comparison. if compared to my planet ocean, then I'll start from the crystal and dial.the invicta has rough edges on all of the markers.The omega doesn't.

while the invicta ar coating is good, its not up to the omegas ar.With the omega,theres zero glare and the dial stays visible.finishing on the Invicta is good, but still not up to omegas standards.omega goes through alot more processes in applying their finish. you can see and feel the differences. The bracelet.pretty good for a Invicta, but with a width of 26mm, friction pins shouldn't be used.these bracelets are stamped, where the omegas are machined, plus they use pins and barrels, and the deployant is much better.omega spends years improving each model, like the Seamaster.Today, the Seamaster is at its finest in refinement.

This is what Invicta fails at.Invicta succeeds in selling alot of watches.But they produce new models and variations of the same models.While omega will work to improve a model over years, Invicta doesn't.Instead they just make another model and fail to make any improvements on a existing model.Invicta only has one model thats stayed in there lineup over the years.The 2896.But even with this model, Invicta doesn't bother to improve it, like adding a sapphire crystal, upgrading the movement, changing to better endlinks, making a better deployant.Again, this is where Invicta fails and the big name companies succeed.

So what does invita need to compete with the major companies? refinement.

Is this a good Invicta? yes.Its heavy, its well built and priced right.But its not in the same league as the established companies.of course this is just my opinion and could be total bullcrap, but it is just my opinion.

 

[RipitRon]

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Although I agree, is the Omega's refinement worth the additional $3K. That is the true question!



Kind of like comparing a ZR1 corvette with a Ferrari Enzo, dollar for dollar the Vette is a way better value, and performs quite impressively compared to the Ferrari, but the ferrari out performs it, and the ferrari cost 8 times as much. Can you justify it, is the real question! Me personally no it does not make sense too me at all, even if I was rich.

 

[TVDinner]

imported post

dedward wrote:

Mine were torqued down, but while inspecting them, they weren't tightened enough.alittle more so they wouldn't come loose.You're asking me to compare just this Invicta to a higher end watch like a Omega or breitling?I'd need to photograph both for a visual comparison. if compared to my planet ocean, then I'll start from the crystal and dial.the invicta has rough edges on all of the markers.The omega doesn't.

while the invicta ar coating is good, its not up to the omegas ar.With the omega,theres zero glare and the dial stays visible.finishing on the Invicta is good, but still not up to omegas standards.omega goes through alot more processes in applying their finish. you can see and feel the differences. The bracelet.pretty good for a Invicta, but with a width of 26mm, friction pins shouldn't be used.these bracelets are stamped, where the omegas are machined, plus they use pins and barrels, and the deployant is much better.omega spends years improving each model, like the Seamaster.Today, the Seamaster is at its finest in refinement.

This is what Invicta fails at.Invicta succeeds in selling alot of watches.But they produce new models and variations of the same models.While omega will work to improve a model over years, Invicta doesn't.Instead they just make another model and fail to make any improvements on a existing model.Invicta only has one model thats stayed in there lineup over the years.The 2896.But even with this model, Invicta doesn't bother to improve it, like adding a sapphire crystal, upgrading the movement, changing to better endlinks, making a better deployant.Again, this is where Invicta fails and the big name companies succeed.

So what does invita need to compete with the major companies? refinement.

Is this a good Invicta? yes.Its heavy, its well built and priced right.But its not in the same league as the established companies.of course this is just my opinion and could be total bullcrap, but it is just my opinion.

OK good. Your comments above echo some I heard at my friend's store. There we were able to put it on the counter right next to Breitlings and other watches in that league, and I agree with just about everything you said above. And for $300-600 it is obviously also many thousands less then the aforementioned luxury brand watches.

Thanks again for the feedback. I am still pretty happy with mine.

 

[Bob]

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Thanks for the fine reviw of this watch. I wonder why anybody should have to use liquid metal welder on a new watch. Other than this issue that you mentioned, this seems like an excellent timepiece and a fine addition to a watch collection.

 

[RipitRon]

imported post

Bob wrote:

Thanks for the fine reviw of this watch. I wonder why anybody should have to use liquid metal welder on a new watch. Other than this issue that you mentioned, this seems like an excellent timepiece and a fine addition to a watch collection.

You and me both! Bob makes no sense too me! I have had one of these for almost two years, and it has not come loose!

 

[toecutter]

imported post

A very fair review. It really brought to light some things that I haven't considered.

Thank you.

 

[BW-1]

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I love mine, there a show stopper and where the SAS exceeds is pure design and size, like our good friend JS from WG sayed one day looking at one of his Rolexes on his thread, Invicta's are leaving everyone else behind in the size race, great review and i have 2 SASs from last year and love them both.....

 

[argabright]

imported post

Great thread! Overall it was very fair, yet reasonable. I think that sufferers of "Invicta Derangement Syndrome" are as myopic as the complete apologist that is unwilling (or unable) to grasp that you actually get what you pay for from upper-end brands.

I have a number of Invicta watches that I intend to keep and the SAS is one of them, (Unless the co-worker that is BEGGING me to sell it to him insists on overpaying, LOL)

Great review and great questions, TV!

 

[RipitRon]

imported post

Yeah Ok!!!



Show me and I will believe it, been there done that and cant appreciate them. Example would be your Oris nice watch, is it worth the Hype too you sure, too me no!!! Like I said I have been there and done it, If I felt that these higher end models actually where worth the money I would go buy one tomorrow, it isnt like I cant afford it!



argabright wrote:

Great thread! Overall it was very fair, yet reasonable. I think that sufferers of "Invicta Derangement Syndrome" are as myopic as the complete apologist that is unwilling (or unable) to grasp that you actually get what you pay for from upper-end brands.

I have a number of Invicta watches that I intend to keep and the SAS is one of them, (Unless the co-worker that is BEGGING me to sell it to him insists on overpaying, LOL)

Great review and great questions, TV!