Good while it lasted...
by
annalin
,
in Hotels & Travel at Epinions.com
,
Dec 28, 2006
Pros:
Handsome, masculine, affordable
Cons:
Doesn't tell time!
The Bottom Line:
This watch is attractive, but the kinetic function broke. What's the point of a watch that won't tell time?
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Invicta is a midscale watch brand with a respectable reputation. The company was started in Switzerland in the 1830's, and reinvigorated in the 1990's. Mikota Co. (Japan) made the shock-resistant quartz movement for this particular timepiece. Invicta watches usually retail in the mid $100 range, but you can frequently find them on television shopping networks and on the internet for significantly less.
My husband received his Invicta Men's Pro Diver SQ Stainless Steel Watch #9204 as a gift a little over 2 years ago. It just stopped working about 2 months ago, and I bought him a replacement Fossil watch for everyday use. Lucky the Invicta gift giver is still a friend. :)
The generally handsome, masculine watch has a stainless steel link band. The outer portion of the band is brushed metal, and the inner third is shiny. The oversized face is deep blue. There is an outer rim/bezel (also deep blue) around the face which has tick marks and some numbers. The face itself has tick marks for the second or minute demarkations and glow in the dark dots and dashes to denote the hours. Supposedly they will glow in the dark for 20 continuous hours, but we honestly haven't been in a cave or anywhere else where we have been able to test this.
Other features include a date window at 3 o'clock with a magnifier in the crystal. The crystal itself is comprised of an antireflective mineral. One cool feature is the back of the watch face. This portion is clear so you can see the innerworkings of the watch. It is also water-resistant up to 660 feet. We have used this in snorkeling, swimming pools, and washing hands and it has been fine.
The main problem with this watch is that it is kinetic. That means it doesn't need a battery to be powered; instead it relies on energy stored up from each time the watch is moved. Normally, if you wear a kinetic watch every day, it will stay "wound up" and keep time accurately for you. However, we have had problems with this watch losing time or stopping altogether. We had to resort to shaking it for several minutes to get it ticking again. Maybe it is a design flaw or maybe this was a "second" quality product. Who knows? However, it has been very frustrating to have a watch and not know the time. Thus, I had to buy him a replacement watch.
Based on this experience, we would probably not buy an Invicta watch again.
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