I bought this Invicta II men's dive-style watch around three years ago. It was promoted as having a genuine (or, if you're David 'The Merm' Mermelstein, a "Jen-U-Wine") turquoise dial. Not long after this, ShopNBC quietly changed the listing, removing the word 'turquoise" and replacing it with the word "howlite." To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure just
when this happened, but it certainly made me question my decision to buy it in the first place. Nonetheless, I decided to keep it since I'd never seen a turquoise-
colored dial before.
I've always been a big fan of Native American jewelry, which was at one time referred to - in some circles - as "Pawnshop Jewelry." My wanting a turquoise dial seemed only natural, so when Invicta offered this particular version, I went ahead and grabbed one. My plan was to eventually fit the watch with an Indian silver and turquoise bracelet, but it was quite a while before I came across the one I'd been hoping for. I finally located the bracelet I was wanting in, of all places, Newport, RI, and the following pictures show the final result:
To my way of thinking, this Native American piece really enhances the appearance of what was beforehand just a rather plain diver that happened to have a rather unusually colored dial. I wanted to use a minimal amount of turquiose; just enough to complement the dial without overwhelming the entire watch and bracelet. The end result is a timepiece with a distinctive Southwestern look and feel that stops well short of going over the top.
Please note the excellent job my jeweler did fitting the sterling 'sidewall' to the original end link; they look like they've always been part of the same assembly.
Okay, I
admit that the 'SWISS MOVT' notation at the six o'clock position on the dial doesn't add to the Southwestern feel of this watch, but since I'm [well] over 50, I can't
see it - much less
read it - so it's no big deal.
Again, please note the near-perfect join-up of the old and the new. The bottom section of the bracelet is of the same style and construction as the all-American Twist-O-Flex brand. Despite my initial concerns, the bracelet wears very comfortably, without a single pulled hair to its credit.
I had worried a bit about how comfortable - or
uncomfortable, as the case might be - this larger watch would be on the wrist, since the vast majority of watches sporting this type of bracelet are in the 38-40MM size range. I needn't have worried, as it is
very comfortable.
The final product is a visually well-balanced, very comfortable watch that still retains a bit of its diver background with its canteen-style crown protector and uni-directional bezel. The silver tabs really do complement the stainless steel of the case, while the small, oval pieces of turquoise tie into the dial almost seamlessly. Yes, there
is a bit of a difference between the dial color and that of the turquoise stones; however, my very humble opinion is that these differences do not detract from the whole - or, if you prefer, the
gestalt of this watch.
Many thanks for looking, and I hope the rest of the week goes extraordinarily well for youse guys & ladies...
Mort OUT
(Hmmm...nice turquoise emoticon!)
