grm watch guru's-invicta on ebay

The ebay deals section has multiple invicta watches for 90% off($700 for $70)

At that kind of discount all I can this is either some kind of knock off or these normally have an insane mark up.

WWGRND?

I had an Invicta 9937 for years. It's a Rolex looking thing that's got a decent ETA movement, a good saphire crystal, and decent build quality for around $300 street price. "List price" was something ridiculous like $2700. That's pretty common across the Invicta lines I've seen.

They're ~ok~ watches, you can generally do better for the same money, and before you do anything, google the model number and see what they actually are selling for. Then use google images to find out what other watches look like the Invicta you're interested in and search those on the infinite number of watch snob/nerd forums.

Watches are a little like clothing - a suit is a suit, but some suits cost $99 and some are thousands of dollars. Like a fine suit, what makes a watch valuable lies mostly on the reputation of the maker and the skill, effort and materials that go into making it.

Only a handful of watch brands have real, lasting reputations -- or resale value. On the other hand, the mass market for watches is sub-$1,000. With a few exceptions, watches at this price point are made in huge factories in Asia, often from components culled from any number of discount suppliers. Many of these big factories produce watches under hundreds of different brand names, so the brand printed on the dial and on the box is meaningless.

Invicta watches are mostly made in China but a few are assembled in Switzerland, mostly from Chinese components. Invicta tends to be pretty serious about quality control; they keep a close eye on production and have decent customer service. That said, their watches don't have any real reputation in the industry (think Nautica, not Armani) so are realistically worth the sum of their parts--$100-200, mostly. No one ever actually pays the hyper-inflated MSRPs they like to advertise.

Nobody pays $700 for an Invicta.

There have also been a handful of them on Amazon lightning deals the last few days.

Never owned one, prefer Seiko and Citizen, but they have a following in the inexpensive watch category. Find the model # you like and google it to find a decent street price.

Edit: ok I didn't read the earlier replies but they say the same thing. What style (dress, active, diver, analog, gps, etc) and type (solar, mechanical, quartz, automatic) of watch do you want?

Wwgrmd: look at cell phone clock, car radio clock, wall clock or laptop clock it's been a while since I've had a use for a wristwatch. Personally, I'd pass on an invicta, save up $400-500 and pick up a vintage Rolex from the 40s or 50s that will never be worth less than what I pay

I'm not really looking for myself. Rather it showed up, and it would make a nice going away gift for my manager who is leaving.

I've found that for what you pay for an Invicta, you can buy a Seiko that is better.

I'll preface this saying it's all about what you like. So if you want a Rolex Submariner but don't have serious $$$ to spend get what you can afford, wears well for you, and has the styling cues that you like. Now then, Invicta has a bit of a reputation as they're always on sale, have an iffy quality rating with most of the WIS community, and considered more fashion items than a useful instrument. Invicta also tends to run, generally, a bit large in diameter and lug to lug so you really have to watch what you order or you'll look like you're wearing a wall clock.

That said there's been a huge swell in what are called microbrands as of late. Generally they use off the shelf rather than in house movements, the Miyota 9015 is common and impressive in its own right, and have their cases and dials made in Asia.

I'm more into dive watches so brands like Halios, Helson, Armida, Hexa, and Crepas are always on my radar when one comes up for sale or I'm thinking of purchasing a new one. Generally they're all sub 700 dollars but all are well finished, have excellent customer service, and generally look unique.

For under 200 dollars you can't beat an automatic Seiko in terms of fit and finish. I never regret buying or wearing one.

Edit: If that's the case an SKX007. Classy diver that can be dressed up or down, can be had for like 140 on Amazon or 160 with a bracelet.

I've got three Invictas with a variety of movements. Quality control is poor - one arrived DOA and was replaced immediately, another stopped working after about 8 months, the third had to go back for repairs to the stems about 3 months in. The warranty repair process takes about 6-8 months, BTW. They're the Harbor Freight of watches. And like HF tools, they're big and heavy enough to use as hammers

I'm wearing one now, but I won't be buying any more, that's for sure. I have better reliability from my collection of Soviet-era Russian watches! I'll back up the Seiko recommendation.

Nothing grassroots about this topic! I buy 2-digit Casios that do a fine job of measuring time.

I don't know much about watches, but this was on display at Costco for like $70. It was Swiss Made, waterproof down to 100M, had actual numbers on it, and the date. I grabbed one and am pretty happy with it.

I was hoping you meant this kind of Invicta.

You can file me under the 2 digit Casio watch camp.

I've got two Invictas. Both are replicas of a Rolex Submariner, one battery powered and the other is an automatic. The automatic is my DD watch and neither has given me any problems in the 5 years I've had them. The auto was $75 and the battery one was $45, although both had some stupid high "list" prices. I would love to have a real Rolex, but this is GRM and that kind of money will buy a half dozen Challenge cars.

Buick Invicta?

With Invicta, there are only certain models worth getting... namely the ones with the Miyota automatic movements that run around the $100ish or so. Bought my dad a model # 4793 (Omega Planet Ocean clone with Miyota 8215) for Father's Day a while back and that is one Invicta I wish they still made, but maybe in a smaller case size. Their pricing structure is severely over inflated too...the list prices are simply ridiculous and delusional. Most of Invicta's catalog is just plain hideous looking as well. For that money and less I'd go with an Orient or Seiko and get a better quality watch all around, as the others have mentioned.

Personally I'm a fan of Casio, Orient, Hamilton, and micro brands like Lum tec and Magrette.

My FR-S is actually what got me started on getting away from the Invicta end of things: starting with the Orient limited edition BRZ GT300 watch, which I've done a few changes to recently:

What the BRZ GT300 Orient watch looks like stock.