My New Watch

Smith357

Smith357

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I picked this up for $20 the other day at a flea market, it had a broken bracelet so I put it on a shark skin strap I had laying around. It's an Invicta Pro Diver with a Citizen Miyota automatic movement, and 200m water resistance. I needed a work watch as I was getting tired of beating up my good Swiss watches. I had been contemplating getting a Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic, but then this old thing came along. The Miyota movement has a reputation of being darn near indestructible and the watch already has a few nicks and dings. So far it's keeping good time for a mechanical having gained only 6 seconds over 3 days.

invictapd4.jpg

invictapd1.jpg

invictapd3.jpg
 
Nice find. It's amazing how these things end up at flea markets.
 
6 seconds in 3 days is great for an automatic. My late Father had a Rolex that wouldn't do that and the Hamilton he got in the 50's loses a few minutes a day. On the other hand, my Timex Indiglow I paid 45 bucks for keeps almost perfect time. However, it aint got the class of a Hamilton or a Rolex.
 
Great score on the Pro Diver. The Miyota is rock solid. I'm also a big fan of the Seiko 5 Automatic 21J (Have a pair of those).

Even newer start ups like Sturhling are getting good reviews these days and they are china movements (that does bother me a bit!) but I guess if the plants are supervised they can make a good product.
 
I have an old Seiko that I got in VN back in 70, My last watch was a Timex Indiglow. However, I retired almost 3 years ago and have not worn a watch since.
 
Just wait until you see what it costs to clean an automatic watch these days, if you can even find someone qualified to do it! I sold my Rolex Explorer and replaced it with a TAG-Heuer quartz model largely for that reason.

But I must say, you have a nice looking watch.

T-Star
 
Texas Star said:
Just wait until you see what it costs to clean an automatic watch these days, if you can even find someone qualified to do it! I sold my Rolex Explorer and replaced it with a TAG-Heuer quartz model largely for that reason.

But I must say, you have a nice looking watch.

T-Star
Click to expand...

Good quartz movements need cleaned as well.
 
Brett248Vista said:
Good quartz movements need cleaned as well.
Click to expand...


Yeah, but it tends to be a lot cheaper. I've had two batteries replaced and the watch guy said that he also cleaned the watch. $35 at a mall jewelry store.

Cleaning the Rolex would cost several hundred dollars.
 
Texas Star said:
Yeah, but it tends to be a lot cheaper. I've had two batteries replaced and the watch guy said that he also cleaned the watch. $35 at a mall jewelry store.

Cleaning the Rolex would cost several hundred dollars.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't take a Rolex Quartz to a mall store. I wouldn't let a mall store work on my Luminox either (Ronda Swiss Quartz 5 jewel movement). But I am a bit of a snob and have my own tools at home so I change my own batteries. :) (On non nitrogen purged watches of course... A Rolex,Omega,Tag etc should all go to certified repair shops.)
 
I've got an Omega automatic that is forty years old, and sat in a drawer for thirty of those, and it runs, well, like a Swiss watch. All I did was wind it up and wear it. I've talked to several jewelers, including the one who engraved it for my grandfather as a retirement watch from his company, and they all told me that if it runs and holds good time, leave it alone.
 
Dive watch from a different era

Hi Smith357,
Nice watch and great deal.
Here is one I found a while back for $35.00.
It was a dive watch in it's day.

My how things change
It is an old Lord Elgin Aquamaster.
If I keep it wound it keeps good time.
Thanks for the picture.
Mike
 
I have 2 Invicta Pro Divers with the Miyota engine. One I have had about 8 years and it still runs perfect. It is my knockaround watch and has never been serviced.

Most horror stories about cleaning automatics involve Rolex's. Rolex recommends that you take them to a certified dealer. They will then send it to Rolex USA in Florida. A lot of time involved and the last time I checked a Datejust cost $350 to get cleaned. Outragious unless you are a snob.

The funny thing about Rolex's is that not all of them have a movement made by Rolex. There have been a number of them found to have Valjoux movements in them. Still a great engine, but not a Rolex. The snobs would have a cow! Maybe that is why Rolex wants all of their watches sent to them for service.

We actually have several people who will clean and service a Rolex in this area. I think their prices usually run $85 to $100 with about a week turnaround.
 
BUT...

Those Valjoux movements in the chronos were ebauches and extensively reworked by Rolex into their own.

Tudor used them also, but again, reworked.
 
The kind of accuracy you have with your Invicta is common nowadays with autos. Begs the question, why pay thousands for that piece of paper from COSC.

Another plus for the Swiss movements are hacking and manual wind option. I read Seiko higher end models have that, and they cost the same as ETAs.

Nothing worng with a japanese movement. A lot of hard core divers won't go in the water without a Seiko. Citizen is a durable brand also. I too have an Invicta "pocket watch on a wrist", Miyota movement. Feels like a boat anchor.

I have one watch with a Valjoux 7750. I don't wear it at work, but it survived occasional doorknobs and block walls without any noticeable harm, except my nerves.
 
Brett248Vista said:
I wouldn't take a Rolex Quartz to a mall store. I wouldn't let a mall store work on my Luminox either (Ronda Swiss Quartz 5 jewel movement). But I am a bit of a snob and have my own tools at home so I change my own batteries. :) (On non nitrogen purged watches of course... A Rolex,Omega,Tag etc should all go to certified repair shops.)
Click to expand...

I too change the batteries in my two quartz watches and I have the tools to regulate all of my mechanicals.

As for the nitrogen purging I have done some work on rifle scopes and used nitrogen on them and started doing it to my watches as well, while talking to the owner of Edouard Lauzières he had never heard of nitrogen purging. And talking to a few Rolex certified service men they have not heard of it either. I figures another gun guy knows what it is. :)
 
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Smith357 said:
I too change the batteries in my two quartz watches and I have the tools to regulate all of my mechanicals.

As for the nitrogen purging I have done some work on rifle scopes and used nitrogen on them and started doing it to my watches as well, while talking to the owner of Edouard Lauzières he had never heard of nitrogen purging. And talking to a few Rolex certified service men they have not heard of it either. I figures another gun guy knows what it is. :)
Click to expand...


The high quality mall jeweller that I used is a certified TAG dealer, and has the equipment to test for seals and depth ability. I've had no issues with the watch and it's been to him twice for new batteries over the ten or so years that I've owned it. That shop is also a certified Rolex dealer.

It is definitely better made with a smoother operating crown than either of my Seikos, which are nonetheless good watches. I've owned one Sports 100 series Seiko since about 1985, maybe a bit earlier.

One of my Seiko quartz models runs so loud that I can hear it in a still room. I quite dislike that...

T-Star
 
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7tenz said:
The kind of accuracy you have with your Invicta is common nowadays with autos. Begs the question, why pay thousands for that piece of paper from COSC.

Another plus for the Swiss movements are hacking and manual wind option. I read Seiko higher end models have that, and they cost the same as ETAs.

Nothing worng with a japanese movement. A lot of hard core divers won't go in the water without a Seiko. Citizen is a durable brand also. I too have an Invicta "pocket watch on a wrist", Miyota movement. Feels like a boat anchor.

I have one watch with a Valjoux 7750. I don't wear it at work, but it survived occasional doorknobs and block walls without any noticeable harm, except my nerves.
Click to expand...


It's true that the higher end Seiko movements get pricey, just look up the street price of a Flightmaster Pilot Chrono from Seiko, it's up there in low end Omega territory!

While the 7s26 movement isn't technically a hacking mov't. You can, with gently backward pressure on the stem, hack the movement. :)


Having a C.O.S.C cert is like anything else. It adds to the snob factor, helps collectivity and proves the watch is accurate within the standard... But the thing is? By Quartz standards, that's a heck of a lot of deviation! :)

We buy automatics not because we want the last word in accuracy, for a simple WalMart Casio or Timex does the job. We want them because we are enamored with the intricacies of the mechanics. I think it's what draws most of us to fire arms as well.

Here's one for you.... Stuhrling.. A name that I swear started off peddling watches in Magazines (though they claim some long lineage) is now making Tourbillon's.... In China...... See the photo below! (And it's a gorgeous watch!) Man if word gets out about this... Faberge will be building Egg's in China!

imperial-tourbillon.jpg
 
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Texas Star said:
The mall jeweller that I used is a certified TAG dealer, and has the equipment to test for seals and depth ability. I've had no issues with the watch and it's been to him twice for new batteries over the ten or so years that I've owned it.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you found a good watch guy, they are as rare as a good gunsmith, there are a lot of hacks out there.

It is definitely better made with a smoother operating crown than either of my Seikos, which are nonetheless good watches. I've owned one Sports 100 series Seiko since about 1985, maybe a bit earlier.

One of my Seiko quartz models runs so loud that I can hear it in a still room. I quite dislike that...

T-Star
Click to expand...

I too find my Swiss watches more refined than my two Japanese watches, but then the Japanese watches generally cost 50% or more less than the equivalent Swiss made watch. I also have a Chinese and a Russian mechanical that are even less refined than the Japanese watches. The Russian Poljot does not even have a quick set date feature.
 
I knew the word Poljot would make it's way into this post at some point! Not refined, great looking and reasonably priced, but you never know if it will set off the Geiger Counter... Yep Mother Russia bring me watch! :)
 
Brett248Vista said:
It's true that the higher end Seiko movements get pricey, just look up the street price of a Flightmaster Pilot Chrono from Seiko, it's up there in low end Omega territory!

While the 7s26 movement isn't technically a hacking mov't. You can, with gently backward pressure on the stem, hack the movement. :)


Having a C.O.S.C cert is like anything else. It adds to the snob factor, helps collectivity and proves the watch is accurate within the standard... But the thing is? By Quartz standards, that's a heck of a lot of deviation! :)

We buy automatics not because we want the last word in accuracy, for a simple WalMart Casio or Timex does the job. We want them because we are enamored with the intricacies of the mechanics. I think it's what draws most of us to fire arms as well.

Here's one for you.... Stuhrling.. A name that I swear started off peddling watches in Magazines (though they claim some long lineage) is now making Tourbillon's.... In China...... See the photo below! (And it's a gorgeous watch!) Man if word gets out about this... Faberge will be building Egg's in China!
Click to expand...

See the new Seiko Spring Drive? Got $3-$7K?

In the 70's I chomped at the bit for a quartz. Now I think people are stupid if they pay over a hundred for one, although I did get a Luminox last summer for over two hundred.

I don't knock the Japanese mechanicals for what they are. I just wanted to point out the Swiss ETAs are hardy too. I have an Accutron Diver with probably an eta 2824 I wear at work every other day. Once I was washing my hands in the shop and when I put it back on, it slipped out of my hands and a hard plastic lid on a shop vac broke it's fall to the cement. Still a nasty hit. Hasn't had any notieable effect on timekeepeing. The pendulum sticks a little at one point, but winds ok.

If we wanted to send a watch to COSC, what would it cost? I think it's a lot less than a thousand, not sure. But it will cost several thousand if it comes with a new Rolex.

I agree, I like my mechanicals for the same reason I like my firearms.
 
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