InvictaMen's Pro Diver Collection Automatic Watch

First let me say that I LOVE this Swiss watch. It looks fantastic and wears very comfortably. Below are few things you need to know BEFORE buying:1. This is a MECHANICAL watch. The NH35A Japanese movement (ie, the mechanism inside that actually keeps time) is only accurate from about -20 to +40 seconds over a 24 hour period. You will not know what you will get until you test it on your wrist. Mine clocks in at -9 seconds/day (-4.6 minutes/month). However, it is still very precise (ie, the daily loss is almost exactly 9 seconds), so it is easy to compensate by adding 2 to 4 extra minutes at the beginning of the month, depending on how critical it is that you be on time. You will need to reset the date regardless after any month with less than 31 days. Importantly, this level of inaccuracy is EXPECTED for a budget mechanical watch per the specs above; mechanical will NEVER match the accuracy of quartz. If strict accuracy is important to you, use your iphone, or buy a quartz watch.Now that said, if you are intrigued by mechanical devices, and want to wear on your wrist a beautiful timepiece that houses the culmination of over a century of engineering and materials advances, including Nobel prize winning technology, that can (in my case) deliver 99.99% accuracy at 21,600 beats per hour (bph) using a miniscule hairspring, balance wheel, gears, and mainspring, that is wound by normal movement of your wrist, then this is the watch for you. More expensive watches have higher bph leading to smoother movement and somewhat better accuracy (+/- 10 sec/day, or even better for $$$$$) but may adversely impact longevity (ie, top sprinters may not be your best marathon runners). My watch started up shortly after placing it on my wrist and has never stopped (or been manually wound) since. It has a transparent back cover to allow you to view the semicircle winding weight, gears, and even the tiny hairspring/balance wheel that looks like a tiny heart beating as it oscillates. It can run 41 hours OFF the wrist when fully wound (power reserve). For what it is worth, the watch is imprinted with “24 jewels” on the back, whereas the Amazon description has “21 jewels”. The jewels are tiny rubies that provide low friction, resilient bearings for key moving parts (but otherwise have no value). More jewels is not necessarily an indication of a substantially better watch.2. The warranty for this watch is essentially USELESS. After paying the 28 dollar appraisal fee, shipping, and insurance, you have paid most of the cost of a new watch (mine was $51 on sale at Amazon). Further, even after paying all of these costs, you may still be challenged by Invicta to prove that you did not void the warranty by opening the watch case, dropping the watch, etc. (see reviews on BBB and Consumer Affairs for proof of that). Bottom line, this is NOT a Rolex, and part of the reason you are able to get the watch so inexpensively is due to the inferior warranty. This is an $84 rendition of the Rolex Submariner that can cost up to $11,000 or more. Think of the 8928 as a disposable watch – so rather than getting all exercised and agitated if it malfunctions, or is damaged, lost, or stolen – just hop on Amazon and buy another one – remembering how many of these you can buy for the price of one $11,000 Submariner – plus you can wear it worry free whereas with the Submariner you would cringe and potentially suffer psychological damage at every bump, scratch, and drop.The above said, it is imperative that you fully test it during the 30 day Amazon return period. Wear it on your wrist as you ride your bike to expose it to handlebar vibration, gently rinse it off with cool tap water after going to the gym, and wear it as much as possible. Check accuracy. You have 30 days to complete your evaluation, and then you are at the point of no return! However, DO NOT drop it on any surface, or expose it to hot water, including hot shower water. These activities WILL ruin a mechanical watch—those activities are not testing, they’re destructive!3. Being someone who has not worn a watch for over a decade, I had to look up what’s a screw down “crown”. The “crown” is the knurled set knob sticking out at the 3 o’clock position. Unscrew it counterclockwise until it pops out, gently pull out one click to set the date counter clockwise, and pull out a second click to set time (either direction). The second click also stops the seconds hand. Stopping the seconds hand ("hacking") right at the 12 o'clock position allows you to align the time exactly with your iphone. After hacking at 12, push the knob all the way back in when the seconds hand on your iphone sweeps 12 o'clock for the same minute setting. Just be sure NOT to attempt to set when the watch shows between 8 pm and 4 am (ie, when date is changing) to avoid damaging the date mechanism. I let mine run 12 hours after first starting it up to figure out if it was in AM or PM part of the date cycle before trying to set it. Also, if you unscrew the crown without pulling it out further, you can manually wind the watch clockwise (I have not had to do this). When done setting/winding, while pressing in, BE SURE TO SCREW CROWN BACK IN SNUGLY finger tight, or any exposure to water WILL ruin the watch. Do not set the watch when it is wet or excessively humid (eg, in the bathroom with steam from a hot shower).4. Do NOT get this watch if you need to tell time in the dark. The “lume” (luminescence, or ability to glow in the dark) is marginally visible after exposing to good lighting, but only persists for an hour or so after lights are out. Invicta uses their “patented” Trinite technology for the lume – I would not worry too much about that IP being copied.5. 8928 versus 8928OB: The only difference between these models in the gold bezel ring with numerals (20, 30, 40, etc.) that encircles the crystal watch face. The bezel is rotated to allow monitoring of elapsed time in minutes from a set point on the bezel. The 8928 bezel has a more attractive contour, but fingers can easily slip when attempting to rotate it. The 8929OB has an edge more like a coin, which is easier to turn, but perhaps less attractive. Be sure to look at photographs carefully before deciding. Both bezels have 120 "clicks" of rotation to allow accurate setting.6. Although the 8928 is considered a “diver’s watch”, one rarely purchases this watch for actual use when diving. Rather, the watch is purchased by individuals who want a elegant watch of simple design that has very good water resistance (200 M) – and who may also want to monitor elapsed time in minutes using the bezel.7. COLOR: The color is a VERY dark blue almost purple color; it contrasts well with the gold markings. In any case, bright light tends to brings out the blue color and makes it sparkle.8. This watch is NOT for watch snobs, who will despise any product from Invicta. So, if you drive a Tesla, this watch is NOT for you. This watch is for those who know how to recognize value and accumulate wealth -- the Camry driver who invests the difference between his car and a Tesla into a rental property. It is a very attractive piece of functional jewelry for which you get a lot of bang for the buck.UPDATE (April 16, 2025). After over 5 good years of hard use, my watch finally died :( And I just put in an order for an identical watch through Amazon for $74. I dropped it about a year ago onto a tile floor, which knocked loose the tiny "winged" insignia underneath the crystal. Took it to a watch repair shop and had it glued back in place for $20. It was functional after that but never quite worked the same -- sometimes running a little fast, and sometimes a little slow -- oscillating between the two every month or so. I definitely preferred it running a little fast as I could just pause it every now and then without having to reset it to get it back on time. Then it started running faster and faster and faster until gaining up to 5 or so minutes a day, and finally, over the last week or so, would become "stuck" for an hour or so a day and lose time -- so unusable. It was worn every day during all work and play activities, and definitely took a beating. If you are wondering what your watch will look like in 5 years, see the attached photo. In particular the "cyclops" (bubble magnifier over the date) was scuffed multiple times against the wall and other surfaces when walking around - it is very susceptible to that, at least in my hands. Will consciously try to be more careful with the new one -- we will see!

I purchased this watch after seeing it online on Amazon and thought it looked very similar to the Rolex Submariner. For less that $100, I thought "Why not? If it's junk I can return it or keep it as a thrasher watch." Well, I was very surprised. The 8926 is a sharp looking watch! It's heavy, solidly built with thick solid bracelet and clean very Rolex-like dial. This version has the Japanese automatic movement from Seiko, movement NH25A (my watch is engraved 8926A on the back case). The auto-wind rotor is etched with SII and Seiko "dot" logo on the right side and NH25A on the left side along with "twenty one jewels" on the center. There are other miscellaneous engravings on the rotor.I own several automatic watches that I can wind manually by turning the crown. When I tried to wind this watch manually, it didn't do anything. I didn't feel it engage the mainspring... the crown just spun freely. A look through the manual didn't mention anything about the Seiko NH25A movement so I thought perhaps the watch was defective because the crown wouldn't engage the mainspring for manual winding. I decided to check the SII website, specifically the NH25A specification and discovered that this movement doesn't have manual winding capability. It's 100% automatic and must be wound by movement of the rotor. I wonder how many people returned this watch thinking it was defective!Anyway, I put the watch in a watch winder and let it go for 24 hours (timed auto rotation mode)and it's been running flawlessly since. I read how some owners were disappointed that their 8926 reserve time is less than 8 hours. I let mine wind down to see how long the reserve time is and it went a full 36 hours before it stopped. I put it back in the watch winder and let it fully wind up and it's been running non-stop for over a month as a daily wearer. I take the watch off at night and let it sit for 8 to 10 hours per day and it hasn't stopped once. I've pretty much stopped wearing my other watches (I have 45 of them).My 8926A has been running very accurately. In little over month and half, I've only reset the time twice my moving the minute hand back 2 minutes each time. Either I got very lucky with this movement's regulation or Seiko NH25A is an excellent movement! I like my Invicta 8926A so much and have been so impressed with Invicta quality, I went and bought more. I now have the following...8926 Japan Automatic S/S (stainless steel) scalloped edge bezel9307 Swiss Quarts S/S scalloped edge bezel9310 Swiss Quartz S/S Gold scalloped edge bezel9937 Swiss Automatic S/S coin-edge bezel (aka Rolex style)9938 Swiss Automatic S/S Gold coin-edge bezel (aka Rolex style)All of them are running flawlessly.UPDATE: 9/23/13My Invicta 8926 has been running non-stop and flawlessly since I bought it over a year ago. During that time, I let it wind down only three times just to see what the reserve time is and it's right around 30 - 35 hours. When I'm not wearing the watch, it's in an auto-winder. I don't like getting my watches wet because I hate the wet clammy feeling under the watch on my wrist and I have to take the watch off anyway to dry it, so I generally won't soak the watch to begin with, especially if it has leather band. Having read the customers review that complained about the water resistance of their Invicta watches, I decided to soak mine... in the shower and in a cup of water overnight. No damage visible and watch keeps perfect time. Maybe I'm lucky? Now, that was before I opened the case back to regulate the watch. The gasket still looked good when I put the case back back on but as for its water tightness now, I don't know and I don't care because I'm not going to soak it diving down to 660 feet. The watch crystal, bezel, case and most of the links still look very shiny and in excellent condition except for the clasp which is completely scratched up from being dragged across desks. It's taken few very hard hits and hasn't suffered any shock damage. Overall, I was so pleased with my Invicta, I bought many more instead of dropping a lot of money on one Swiss-Made brand name watch... I researched a lot about the Swiss watch industry and now I refuse to fall for the marketing scam. I work with several people who are watch snobs and they pretty much laugh at the Invicta brand or any thing else that doesn't cost upwards of $5000 and up. Can someone tell me why Breitling, Tag Heuer, Tissot and Rolex cost so much, especially if its just stainless steel and not precious metal case??Just a bit of rambling now.Over the past year, I've sort of lost my mind and became a watch fanatic... I now own about 300 watches and the last tally on purchases surpassed $10,000. I became fascinated with the whole watch industry and watchmaking/repairs and decided to study Horology as a hobby. For one, the whole Swiss Made quality thing is a marketing scam. I delved into the whole manufacturing/marketing thing and learned that really there is only a handful of movement manufacturers in Switzerland (Swatch Group being one of the largest {ETA movements}) that supply most of the movements to other manufacturers. Some of the EXPENSIVE name brand watches use "upgraded" movement parts that you'd find in lower priced watches. I can understand the "upgrading" of the parts but how do they justify the incredible cost? It's all in the name. I bet you'll be surprised to learn that a lot of Swiss watches are made with parts supplied by companies outside of Switzerland and "finished" in Switzerland. As long as it's 50% cost of assembly of the movement in Switzerland, it's considered Swiss Movement. It doesn't matter where the parts came from (China). Now, of course there are some Swiss watch manufacturers that make everything in-house and don't share anything, but it's only a handful. So, with this dose of skepticism, I bought many watches to test and evaluate, priced from about $15.00 to over $1000.00. I also bought a timing machine and various watchmaker tools and gained enough knowledge to be able to take apart and repair mechanical watches (as well as quartz watches.) Sapphire crystal is the rage on watches... so I decided to replace quite a few of them on my personally owned watches... and discovered that they aren't that expensive at all. In Los Angeles Jewelry District, I bought many genuine sapphire crystals from dealers that supply watch parts to repair shops for about $10.00 to $35.00 per piece depending on size and thickness, most of them being in the $10 - $15 mark. It takes me less than 5 minutes to swap out the mineral glass with the sapphire glass. I also buy watch batteries for about 50 cents per piece instead of $4.00 to $5.00 per piece you'd find at repair shops. Shows you what kind of profit they are making... Using my timing machine, I have regulated my mechanical watches to accuracy within +/-5 seconds or better per day. My Invicta 8926 with the NH25A Seiko movement has been regulated to within +/-2 seconds per day. It took me about 30 minutes of measuring and adjusting the balance to get this accurate and it was done measuring the timing with dial up, dial down, 12H up, 12H down, 3H up (crown up), 3H down, averaging positional error. The watch also has 0.1 mSec beat timing error or better depending on positioning, which is good. It means the tick and the tock of the watch is timed almost perfectly. I could have paid thousands of dollars for ONE watch bearing famous Swiss name to get this type of accuracy, but then, I would have learned that I was ripped off just for the bragging rights to say "I own a (insert expensive name watch here)." I even bought a tourbillon watch to test it for timing accuracy and... surprise... it's no more accurate than my other $100 - $500 watches. Now, I will admit that some of my mechanical watches were very very difficult to regulate because they just wouldn't hold adjustment. But it was more of an exception than the rule. Those watches I use to practice taking apart and reassembly... and I have broken a few of them. Quartz watches, in general, are very accurate. I've been timing them using timing signal from Fort Collins, Colorado for accuracy and from my no-name $15 quartz watch to my Philips Watch (Swiss Made)and my Movados (and all in-between from Chinese, Japanese and Swiss)have all been within 5 seconds per month or better with an exception of a few that have been off my almost 8 to 10 seconds per month. In other words, in a year, the worse timed quartz watch will be off by 2 minutes. I can live with that. Oh, and I'm still adding to my watch collection. Yes, I have lost my mind... :)