Invicta Objet D'Art IN26347 - pair review of women's watches

Wrist Watch

Usually a pair review is when we talk about a couple of hours. It's the opposite with us: my wife and I wrote a review of the Invicta Objet D'Art skeleton-three switchman together.

Invicta Switzerland - USA - China

The company Invicta ("Invincible") was founded in 1837 in Switzerland and has been successfully developing for more than a hundred years. The company had a variety of models, and its own calibers. But the company could not stand the quartz crisis of the 1970s: it went bankrupt, was sold twice and eventually acquired by American investors. The headquarters is still located in Florida.

The life of the brand has improved over time. Invicta manufactures part of the watches in Switzerland (they are marked Swiss made - and no, the hero of our review is not one of them). The rest are in China. Invicta no longer makes its own movements: it uses Swiss ones in more expensive watches, and in budget ones they use simple models of Seiko, Miyota and some Chinese ones. In 2004, the company grew into the Invicta Watch Group and now includes three more watch brands (including Glycine) and even one hotel in Puerto Rico.

Invicta is a specific brand. The collections include more or less traditional watches, hommage, and completely crazy designs - for example, in honor of Marvel super heroes. The absolute freedom of Invicta design thinking (sometimes not limited by common sense) gives customers freedom of expression, especially since even budget Invictas are quite good in quality.

The hero of our review is the women's three-hand model IN26347 from the Objet D'Art collection. All “objects of art” are mechanical, with a dial that is open to one degree or another.

What are they like in a sock, how are they felt in the hands and on the hand? I give the floor to my beautiful partner.

Clock from the Art Deco era

The very first glance at this model brought to mind the drawings of watch movements by Leonardo da Vinci. You look at the device of the watch through the transparent dial and admire the power of engineering. So many large and small gears, screws, springs - and not a single extra detail.

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Only the wonderful music of mechanical clocks is heard. Moreover, if the clock is on the table, then the ticking from its surface intensifies. And if they are worn, then they are not heard by the whole room, but only by the owner.
Therefore, the second feeling that came from communicating with the watch was like having a four-legged friend. When I see how the mechanisms move and hear the heartbeat of the clock, it is as if I am holding something alive in my hands. The self-winding rotor is like the often flickering wings of a butterfly or a hummingbird. And in the age of quartz and smart watches, this feeling of a living mechanism warms the soul very much.

But, like all living things, these watches require a certain amount of attention to themselves: you either need to “walk” your pet Invicta every day (so that the watch winds up when worn), or regularly wind it manually. The winding crown feels very pleasant in the hands - large, with clear, but smoothed edges. And to translate the time, you need to pull it towards you. The main thing is to snap it back later to ensure water tightness. This Invicta has it, although it is small (3 bar), but it is there - you can wash your hands.

And yet, with all the pleasant overall impressions of the watch, I did not leave the feeling that style argues with ease of use in them.

However, that seems to be how it was intended. The creator of the watch clearly emphasized the opportunity to admire the mechanism, and not the practicality of the dial or its decoration. Of the numbers on the dial, there are only XII and VI in white font.

The marks on the ring around the dial are also not flashy, they do not draw attention to themselves. It feels like the ring is carved from mother-of-pearl or fragile porcelain. And the brand name and watch model are written directly on the glass, as imperceptibly as possible, so as not to overlap the matted parts of the mechanisms.

In general, the watch resembles the art deco style, which combined luxury and technological progress. The few elements that are applied to the dial are made in Art Deco font.

Street clock on 5th Avenue, New York / Clock on the facade of the Daily Telegraph building, London

Of the more obvious associations, the Rolex bezel.

The guilloche is reminiscent of the element of sun rays, a symbol of abundance, often found in Art Deco. The combination of glossy polished steel and glass with matte white elements (numbers, a ring around the dial) creates the very balance of luxury and functionality that is characteristic of the Art Deco style.

Empire State Building lobby clock / Marine building, Burrard Street, Vancouver

Separately, I want to dwell on the arrows. Their shape, and even with a white spot of the phosphor, resembles a whale's fin. And under different lighting conditions, their blue color is read in different ways: from deep dark blue, like the night sky, to bright blue, like ultramarine. I was amazed that with a very short stay in daylight (in November there is not much of it), the greenish phosphor glows very brightly and is perfectly visible in the darkness of the night. But only with the caveat that the owner of the watch managed to get used to reading the hands without visual reference to the hour markers on the dial.

If you are used to watching time on the run, with one short glance, then this watch will be difficult to navigate. Therefore, if your work, like mine, is tied to strict timing and at a meeting with a client you do not want to seem impolite, looking at your watch and hinting that it is time for the guest to finish, then it is better not to wear Objet D'Art to the office. They are designed to be looked at for a long time and with pleasure.

For my taste, a mesh bracelet is better suited for this watch: everything is so elegant, airy, and the leather strap looks rustic here. It is comfortable, fits well even on my very thin wrist. But it is purely utilitarian and dissonant with the case - which is the very elegance and sophistication.

By the way, about utility. I return the floor, partner!

A moment of utility

I did not wear a watch, but I made up my mind about them.

Watch size: 34mm in diameter, 40mm lug to lug, 12,6mm thick. From the positions of men's watches - tiny, for women - quite tangible. However, my wife and I like how such watches sit on a fragile female wrist.

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Readability at a C grade. During the day - because of the skeletonized dial: against the background of all the details of the mechanism, the hands sometimes have to be looked for. At night, because the arrows are also skeletonized and similar in shape: you can understand the time by two almost identical rounded triangles, but you need to think for a second.

The dial is covered with a tempered mineral glass - branded invicta flame fusion. Not sapphire crystal, but according to reviews it is not afraid of scratches.

The case is made simply, but soundly. There are no complex edges, but the geometry is even. Details are in place: a three-dimensional logo on the crown, a belt buckle with good, deep stamping.

The finish of the mechanism is a rough radial beam. Some would say budget. But on the buildings of the Art Deco era, load-bearing beams were also left in sight - utilitarian, not decorated, but forming a style. So it is here: there are a lot of elegant watches with an open and decorated mechanism. And here is an elegant watch with a rough finish. Contrast, tension, style! Effectively.

The movement is a Chinese PTS 2650 with 20 jewels. As I understand it, this is the "standard mechanism". In the 1970s, they were developed to standardize watchmaking in China (before that, numerous factories made mechanisms in all sorts of ways). They say that "standards" do not shine with accuracy, but they are reliable - if they are not made "by Uncle Liao", but at the factory. For Invicta, the mechanisms are supplied from proven factories and there should be no problems.

Summary

Female look: this model has a lot to tell about its owner. You can wear them with business clothes, and with smart-casual, and with a little black dress. But to choose such a watch, you need to be creative in nature, ready for some inconvenience in use for the sake of the original design. And, of course, a connoisseur of mechanics.

Male look: unusual hours. They do not shine with any characteristics or finish, but they feel soundly. At first glance, they seem strange, but if you look closely, they have a twist.

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