Big watches

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

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Totally non-knife thread.

The rage lately is huge wrist watches...some as big as 18 size pocket watches. One popular type is Invicta. No matter what I tell people, they don't believe me that it is just a phony watch from China.

Folks, all the websites and $1000 retail cost BS is generated by the Chinese people who make the watch....the ebay adds, too. It costs less than $3 to make one. They have a $0.99 movement. The most valuable part is the $1.00 battery. I can't believe people even spend the $75-100 for one that Costco gets.

Just to prove it, today I took a photo of the inside of one. All that big case is filled with air......and a $0.99 movement.

Sorry to break the news, but the Invicta, Nixon, Michael Kors, etc. watches come from the same people - junk watch manufacturers in China. Some models have slightly better movements, but few cost more than $20 to make. If you want a good watch, get a Seiko or Citizen...or a Timex.
 

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Reminds me of a time 15 years ago or so when we got a 35mm camera that was supposed to be a good deal. It didn't take long to find out it was crap. When we decided to trash it, I took it apart (like I did with everything we threw away) and found that it was a really cheap mechanism in a plastic case, with all the air spaces filled in with LEAD. To make it feel heavier, and thus, like quality. I kept the lead though.

I have a Citizen watch. I like it. :thumbup:
 
As a watch collector I have long known about Invictas. What disturbs me even more are the REAL name brands that do the same thing for even higher prices.
 
One thing is that electronic components are getting smaller over the years .Some amateur radio guys like the big old radios.Today's big ones are mostly empty space because of this.
Watches ? I'll keep my Citizen solar .It's fairly big so I can get lots of sunshine inside !!
 
..... I'll keep my Citizen solar .It's fairly big so I can get lots of sunshine inside !!

That must be how daylight savings works!
 
I prefer the jeweled mechanical watches myself.Nothing quite like the beauty of a well crafted mechanical movement. My wife still buys me Bulova automatics for my birthday every few years. I've been seeing ads for the new Omega watches too. Yes, I know... all the watch companies are now owned by Swatch. At least some of them are still making real watches.
 
I was given an expensive Rado watch by my father. He paid $1800 for it overseas (IIRC). He gave it to me because he bought another watch with a ceramic band as well, and he liked it better. My Dad doesn't look at things as closely as I do. On the face of the watch, inside the crystal, the blue colored coating around the numbers started flaking off. The uncrackable crystal part (I don't know watch terminology) has a huge crack in the top of it. The ceramic band, right at the junction to the watch itself, broke in half. Turns out the model number on the back of it isn't even a Rado number....and it turned out to be a cheapo knock off brand that still cost a few hundred.

I had a Citizen eco drive once upon a time. Was told it didn't need a battery. It had a huge battery in it. One day the thing quit working, I took it to JC Penny where it was bought, and they told me they didn't have those batteries...and to contact Citizen. Citizen wanted $60 plus shipping to replace a battery in a watch that supposedly didn't use a battery. I understand now tho....the only thing the eco drive does is charge a battery that runs the watch. And not very well at that. I didn't get the new battery on principle.

For me...Timex. All the way. Takes a lickin'....keeps on tickin'. Thank you for the heads up Stacy! You're a wealth of knowledge.
 
Yep, Timex is great.......ask John Cameron Swayze.

The thing that looks like a battery in a solar or kinetic watch isn't a battery in the normal sense ( It also connects to the circuitry differently than a battery). It is a capacitor that is charged up, and holds the charge. It holds the charge for a month or so without any input ( light or movement). As it ages, it gets less able to take a charge. These "capacitors" cost me about $20-30 each, and the normal charge to replace one is $50-60.
 
Oris makes a decent little watch if you like automatics. Good quality for the price, at least to my eye. I also bought a Xetum, more because I liked the design/look than because of the relatively inexpensive Swiss movement. I have a number of Citizen Eco drives as well, and I have found them to be great watches overall.

I'm someone that just loves all things mechanical. Automatic watches, firearms of all types, tools, machines, etc. all get my goat.

--nathan
 
My everyday watch is a 35 year old seiko sports 150 diver. Automatic and still keeps good time. They can be found for decent prices. The fancy watch is a bernhardt, made by Fred Amos in North Carolina, again automatic, nice watch. For out in the shop, yep timex. Expedition, cheap and works.
Brion
 
Big watches? Pshaw! Neck clocks (and Viking helmets) are where it's at baby!

boozinbluntinwithflavaflav.jpg
 
Not a lot better - Nixon watch:
 

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I'm amused by the second knob that seems to do nothing but allow you to flood the watch if you are foolish enough to wear it when diving.
 
I agree that the dinner plate sized watches are a little funny, Still I am a big man and I think mine is 42cm ?
Many watches companies and just about everyone else is a little deceptive in their marketing.
My Invicta has a Japanese self winding movement and was well worth the $90 something bucks shipped, I paid.DSCN2353.jpg DSCN2353.jpg

I can't get the rear movement picture to load?
 
Totally non-knife thread.

The rage lately is huge wrist watches...some as big as 18 size pocket watches. One popular type is Invicta. No matter what I tell people, they don't believe me that it is just a phony watch from China.

Not all Invictas are created equal...yes I understand your point. I own/beat on an Invicta 6503 Grand Diver with tritium and I've had great luck with it. Granted I have had it overhauled to my specs, too. I replaced their ETA mov't with an ETA movement that I know the origins of and I also had a Sapphire crystal installed in place of their flame fusion hocus pocus. The titanium housing and band are both very nice and the tritium allows me to view the face at night. Now before you crucify me for owning an Invicta I also own nice watches...Baume & Mercier Auto Chrono/Hamilton Khaki Multi Touch/MTM Silver Warrior/Luminox Dive watch in stainless. Bottom line? I like Swiss Movements, even if I need to install them myself. I'd buy American if I could find an American watch company, seems like they've all been bought by the Swiss. (Or in Bulova's case the Japanese)
 
Not all Invictas are created equal...yes I understand your point. I own/beat on an Invicta 6503 Grand Diver with tritium and I've had great luck with it. Granted I have had it overhauled to my specs, too. I replaced their ETA mov't with an ETA movement that I know the origins of and I also had a Sapphire crystal installed in place of their flame fusion hocus pocus. The titanium housing and band are both very nice and the tritium allows me to view the face at night. Now before you crucify me for owning an Invicta I also own nice watches...Baume & Mercier Auto Chrono/Hamilton Khaki Multi Touch/MTM Silver Warrior/Luminox Dive watch in stainless. Bottom line? I like Swiss Movements, even if I need to install them myself. I'd buy American if I could find an American watch company, seems like they've all been bought by the Swiss. (Or in Bulova's case the Japanese)

Ever hear of Shinola? Hand made in Detroit:
http://www.shinola.com/shop/watches/mens-watches.html
 
I sold watches for a living and can appreciate an Invicta as well as a Breguet. My experience taught me to rarely purchase in a brick and mortar shop. Once you discover how much your watch depreciates when it's used and get over the shock, you'll not go back. No matter what you like, do your homework before purchase.
 
I'm amused by the second knob that seems to do nothing but allow you to flood the watch if you are foolish enough to wear it when diving.

There is an internal case ring in these watches that keeps the small movement centered. In that ring is a pusher rod that transmits the button push to the movement. I didn't put it in the photo.
 
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