The Invicta 8928- After 6 months

[The Archer]

A while back, I was looking for a decent, inexpensive automatic, and had pretty much narrowed it down to a Seiko 5 and an Invicta Pro Diver. Honestly, I was leaning towards the Seiko due to Invicta's less than stellar reputation. Fast forward a week, and I was in a JC Penny, looking at watches... They had Seikos alright, but not the 5 I was looking for... Stumped, I went to leave the store, when I passed the Invicta display. The Invicta that was my original alternative to the 5, the 8926 (same exact model Drockadam has) was not in stock...

Then I saw the 8928. It's a homage to the ref. 16613 Submariner, the one with the blue dial... I'd lusted after that Sub for a while, and I thought I could get a nice beater while seeing if I liked the Sub style on my wrist. So it went home with me.

What I immediately liked was the dial. I wouldn't quite call it the same shade of blue as the 16613, it's more of a deep purple, which is different. Several features of this watch made it stand out above other Sub homages in its price range, such as the solid link bracelet (albeit hollow end links), 200m water resistance, a reliable Miyota 8215 movement.

It features an exhibition caseback, which for a dive watch is a bit unusual. The Miyota isn't going to win any beauty contests, but I think it's nice to see how an automatic works. It has a 45 hour power reserve, which is adequate enough for me, and when I bought it it was a steady 15 seconds fast per day.
Six months later, it's 8 seconds fast, which for a non-COSC watch in this price range I find more than acceptable.

This watch doesn't just take its styling cues from the 16613 Bluesy. The bezel (a 120 click unidirectional) is scalloped, much like Omega's Seamaster Pro. The markings on said bezel are almost identical to the SMP. The Invicta logo is present on the seconds hand, and vaguely resembles a Breitling in this respect. The clasp, on the other hand, is more of a TAG Heuer inspired part.

The bracelet is nice, brushed stainless outer links with yellow gold plated center links. It feels solid due to its solid center links, yet a bit rattly due to its hollow end links. While the steel is brushed, the sides of the links are polished to an excessive degree- I've blinded myself looking at the side of the bracelet more than once in bright sunlight. The clasp is pretty basic. The blades of said clasp are potato chip thin, but I guess it holds true to the older Subs. The clasp is signed with the Invicta logo, and on the underside of the bracelet, every link is stamped with "Invicta". I'm not really a fan of this, but I'm the only one who's going to see it anyways.

The case, like the bracelet, is brushed steel on top, on the lugs, yet polished on the sides. It has the characteristic engraved "Invicta" on the left side of the case, again, not a big fan. Caseback, as said before, is of the exhibition type and is a screw-down back.

The crown is plated in yellow gold, much like the 16613, and is quite nice. It's a screw-down crown signed with the Invicta logo. Winding is smooth, albeit a tad noisy...

Which brings me back to the movement. Yes, it's ugly as sin, sure, it doesn't hack, but the 21 jewel Miyota 8215, like Rolex's revered Cal. 3135, is a rock solid workhorse. It hasn't given a hiccup of trouble since I bought it.

A note on the bracelet. A few months ago, I was playing with my dog, slipped and fell, and the bracelet is no longer completely flush with the case. All my fault, but it still works.

The lume is in a word, terrible. It has Invicta's "Tritnite" lume, which looks like luminova but lasts nowhere near as long. It'll glow brightly the first five minutes, then it's about 3-4 hours before the dial has gone completely dark.
Needs work.

The crystal is touted as "flame fusion" which Invicta claims is a mineral crystal, coated with sapphire. I'm not too sure, I've put one decent scratch on it already, but it is very hard to see.

Overall, this watch has its faults, but for $150, I picked up a Sub 16613 homage that has a tried and true auto movement, and it feels like a quality timepiece for the price. Pics are below, and thanks for reading!

Not the best quality pics, they were taken with my phone