OK, so you're a car guy...

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by JayG

Look at Invicta. You can get some great deals on shopnbc. They still have normal size watches. Too many places just have the ginormous oversized ones now

Invicta makes some really nice automatic models that are reasonable priced
A lot of them have sapphire crystals as well

I have Had a few for many years and they work great

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

Steve0x, I have one of those Invicta Rolex "homage" watches too. It's an automatic with a Sellita movement (who supply ETA).
I think I paid $220 for it on that WorldofWatches site from Florida. It was a flawless beater watch. It keeps excellent time.
I also bought a Rotary Mecanique for like $200 from them as well. Pretty insane prces for Swiss made watches.
Just shows you how marked up all these watches are. It's worse than the mattress industry.

Some (most?) of the invictas are huge and gaudy, but some are very nice. I love mine.

Another one I would love to pick up if they ever come in stock is the maratac mid pilot watch. Very classy.



CountyComm - Maratac Pilot Automatic Watch

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by all_mota

Since you guys seem to be some watch gurus, do you guys have any suggestions for a decent durable watch under $400. I'm not too big on watches aside from a few g-shocks(I'm young.lol) and a vintage Seiko from Saudi Arabia from my father. I'm basically looking for something I can wear to the beach then wear to dinner afterwards and not feel stupid about having a plastic watch looking on my wrist.

I like Citizen Eco Drive watches. You can find them on sale, in particular, Kohls.com on sale and then a 30% off coupon and you have a very nice watch at a great price. Just my opinion

I like the G-shocks as well, recently got one for my Marine, he loves it.

[Top_Ramen]

I actually ended up just ordering a cheap auto watch today. I considered Stuhrling, Invicta, and a Citizen too actually but couldn't really find one that i liked. So in the end I ended up just ordering up an Orient Mako with stainless bracelet from fleabay. I read a several reviews one them saying the build was decent and very sturdy and also really like the simplicity of it. Nothing special but something for now that I can wear for the time being. Thanks again for the input guys!

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by steved0x

Some (most?) of the invictas are huge and gaudy, but some are very nice. I love mine.

Most of their skews are for normal sized vanilla looking quartz watches. Those must be their most profitable items, the $80-$100 price point for watches that only cost a few bucks to make. Which is probably what the average watch-wearing person spends on a watch. Those 45+mm watches they sell probably get the most attention but it's really a niche market relative to total sales, probably because the average wrist is under 8 inches.
I tried finding a beater watch at one point and visited all the major retailers with watch departments. I was shocked at how poor the quality was for any watch below $100 given that this is the meat of the sales curve so to speak and these watch makers now have the manufacturing capability to produce greater durability. I ended buying a Timex chronograph from Sears and unsurprisingly it turned out to be of very poor quality. "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking" was long gone. For about $30 more, but still under $100, I bought the 40mm Invicta Pro Diver. Night and day. Those people at Invicta obviously spent some time in China sourcing the best possible materials that could still bear a profit at the bottom of the price ladder. I actually compared it to an 80's Rolex that my friend was wearing. Although the internals were obviously apples and oranges the case and bracelet were much better on the cheap Invicta. I guess manufacturing in China has really ramped up vs. what was available in Europe a few decades ago.

[Porsche Chick]

Originally Posted by ekam

^Women who wear Cartier (be it quartz or mechanical) have great taste.

Thank you!

[Porsche Chick]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

Most of their skews are for normal sized vanilla looking quartz watches.

It matters not at all, but it's SKU's, short for stock keeping unit. I've noticed how exact you are, so I wanted to throw that in. Plus show off that I know that arcane bit of info.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by Porsche Chick

It matters not at all, but it's SKU's, short for stock keeping unit. I've noticed how exact you are, so I wanted to throw that in. Plus show off that I know that arcane bit of info.

My spellin' is going to hell. I'm starting to type like a kid born in the late 90's texts (which is the same way they email).

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

Most of their skews are for normal sized vanilla looking quartz watches. Those must be their most profitable items, the $80-$100 price point for watches that only cost a few bucks to make. Which is probably what the average watch-wearing person spends on a watch. Those 45+mm watches they sell probably get the most attention but it's really a niche market relative to total sales, probably because the average wrist is under 8 inches.
I tried finding a beater watch at one point and visited all the major retailers with watch departments. I was shocked at how poor the quality was for any watch below $100 given that this is the meat of the sales curve so to speak and these watch makers now have the manufacturing capability to produce greater durability. I ended buying a Timex chronograph from Sears and unsurprisingly it turned out to be of very poor quality. "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking" was long gone. For about $30 more, but still under $100, I bought the 40mm Invicta Pro Diver. Night and day. Those people at Invicta obviously spent some time in China sourcing the best possible materials that could still bear a profit at the bottom of the price ladder. I actually compared it to an 80's Rolex that my friend was wearing. Although the internals were obviously apples and oranges the case and bracelet were much better on the cheap Invicta. I guess manufacturing in China has really ramped up vs. what was available in Europe a few decades ago.

I do love my pro diver. I have only ever seen one of their huge watches that fit the wearer and it was on a flight, and the guy across from me was in the military and probably was 250 lb of solid muscle. He had one of those giant Russian divers and it looked just right; everything else would have looked tiny on him.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by steved0x

I do love my pro diver. I have only ever seen one of their huge watches that fit the wearer and it was on a flight, and the guy across from me was in the military and probably was 250 lb of solid muscle. He had one of those giant Russian divers and it looked just right; everything else would have looked tiny on him.

I think that's why that brand is popular in the quartz watch market. Americans are getting bigger and bigger. Must be all the GMOs and hormones.
I dusted off a Swatch Watch I had from 1987 the other day. Those watches were all the rage...to go with your up-turned collar and Reeboks. Yet the Swatch size now looks like that of a kid's watch.
Even the Tag Heuer F1 from the early 90's looks puny on the average wrist today.