Subaqua N….ightmare? Still worth it :)

2manywatches

Tyme Machine
Joined
Jul 23, 2019
Messages
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Crazy long post, sorry, but it’s a long story. Short story is I bought a watch with a known problem and the problem became known. Not surprising, right? Currently, the watch has no strap, but hoping to remedy that shortly.

Long story follows, for anyone with some time to spare….

So....ever have one of those things you wanted, that turned into a money pit? Well, follow along with me, on a journey of stupidity/unfortunate luck/acceptance of Invicta issues with a SAN IV I really wanted…

I’ve been buying on eBay for about forever, and, amazingly, this was my first run in with a truly and ridiculously unscrupulous seller, which is where the nightmare began. Turns out this first seriously bad experience was seriously enraging and frustrating, but eBay saved the day, although things are not yet resolved with the watch itself, or, the watch I got, instead, I should say.

Here’s the tale….

Still clearing the buy list from last year, my absolute happiness in my Subaqua NOMA V automatic (sweet Swiss movement, beautiful watch) had got me thinking about other SAN models, in order to have one of each series I like and so, from last year, a SAN IV was on my buy list.

My SAN V auto is crazy beautiful, IMO –

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As I said in presenting my “Green Machine” Subaqua Specialty, it was the SAS models that I first got into, in the Subaqua world.

From long years ago:

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I did come across the SAN I, very early on, but, idk, for some reason I did not find it appealing in design.

One year I bought my brother a SAN II, and that one I did like, but, at the time, the market was not what it is now, and I couldn’t find one to buy. Sold out, meant sold out.

Fast forward to a year or so ago, and, with lots of older and discontinued Invictas now on the market, I finally found a SAN II on eBay. Not the silver and blue, like the one I got for my bro, but the black and silver was handsome enough.

Well, it arrived, and the retrograde day was wayyyy off, to the point where you couldn’t really tell what day it was trying to point to, and, curiously, both day and date started changing later and later after midnight, to eventually changing during midday, so I figured the Swiss quartz movement was likely toast.

Seller was decent enough about it, and agreed to fix it, claiming he was part of a jewelry business, that had a resident watch repair “expert.” What was that line from Ironman 2? Something like, “I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance.” Well, no expert was in attendance at whatever business the Seller had.

I sent it, and it came back exactly the same, haha. Re-sent it, and, amazingly, it came back with still the same problem, so I finally insisted that the movement should be swapped, and offered to pay half (movement was about $80). He agreed, and it came back working PERFECTLY….BUT, the lume pip was gone….and all the subdials and dial had gunk all over, as if the expert was eating peanut butter out of a jar with his fingers while making the repair.


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Lovely, isn’t it?? Not.

So, I don’t wear that one much. My local watch guy I later found, who IS an expert, lol, has said, for probably about a hundred bucks, it can be cleaned, but I haven’t gotten around to it, as yet.

On a positive note, the Seller, who no longer wanted to keep “fixing” it, gave me a good chunk of store credit, and had a few watches I wanted, which suddenly were super affordable, thanks to the credit. So, it kinda worked out.

Anyway, so I now “sort of” have a SAN II, and, in recent years bought a few of the SAN III’s (a design I really love):

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So…..after the SAN V auto, it made sense to try and add a SAN IV, right?! Simple.

Well, it turns out they are a bit of a rare bird these day, and the main options I could find meant either a leather strap version, with the “distressed” finish (not sure if I like that, although one is still in my eBay “Watching” list), or the dreaded poly strap versions. Now, we all know that the poly straps, even if not worn, can just self-destruct. Some versions seem worse than others. My brother has replaced at least three of his. Amazingly, I have yet to replace any on the few I do own, so, against better judgment, I pulled the trigger on a SAN IV on the poly.

Main reason? I LOVE the blue bezel! It’s the look I’d hoped to get on my SAN V (and it’s looking quite appealing even on the new SAN VII), but was not available on that model, so, I went for this one, and found one at a really great price! Instead of alarm bells ringing, haha, I ignored the “why would this be priced so low” and celebrated the buy. She did have a positive seller standing, and that seemed good enough.

On arrival, back of the watch was scratched; band was nearly sheered in half at the lugs, and was split completely at the holes where the tang goes. Wow. Watch box was also quite grubby, so, who knows the story of it, maybe it was a dumpster find, lol. Given the chewed up edges of the strap, maybe a rat had a go at it.

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Emailed the seller, let’s do a return, watch is clearly not new….

Received no less than six of the exact same messages in reply from her, calling me a fraud, threatening me, and claiming I had switched her brand new watch for some apparent old and broken one she claimed to know I had in my possession. Crazy! She even submitted photos of the watch sent to me, which I could then zoom in on, and saw she’d sent pictures which showed the damage, haha. Not the best defense.

I called eBay, and they saw the same damage in her photos, and assured me to go ahead with the return, and my refund would happen.

Seller finally sent the return shipping label, I returned the watch, and she promptly bombed my Inbox again, this time claiming I had clearly traded an old strap onto the watch, I was a fraud, blah, blah, blah, and further claimed I was crook because my eBay activity showed I was a “trader in watches” who bought and sold regularly. I’ve never sold a single item on eBay, haha.

For further insult, her next message was that she had calculated the cost of a new strap, from Invicta, and said she’d refund me fourteen dollars or some ridiculous thing, due to me rendering her watch "unable to be sold."

Called eBay again, and they said, nope, she claimed it was new, and it is now back in her possession, so they will force a full refund. Refund arrived the next day, in full.

In the meantime, at a higher price than I wanted to pay from another Seller, was the same model, and it was one of those, “I’m into this now, so screw it” kind of things, so I ordered it.

And, here it is!

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Looks great, right?!?! Success!!!! One would hope so….

Just like the one I returned, I again was in love with the color scheme, and even the black poly added to it – black and silver and blue looks great together, it’s a tidy 45mm for a gentlemanly fit, and the crown “hatch” is awesome.

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Swiss movement (and thankfully quartz because I am pretty much out of room for winders!), allegedly Swiss made, 500m WR, cool dial patterning, Flame Fusion crystal, all good. Even the four bezel fixtures, denoting it as a SAN IV, give it a balanced look. I don’t know, the whole package just does it for me, somehow.

What doesn’t do it, is the garbage poly strap, and, considering the recent thread here on Invicta thoughts, haha, I’m the first one to say that this is a corner cutting nightmare, these cheap, disintegrating bits of junk, because, no less than a few times of wearing it, the band split at the tang holes! UGH!

Simple fix – replace strap! NOT. Did find that Invicta branded straps are still sold for this model, but, stupidly pricey for a dang strap that will also self-destruct at some point in the future. So, I went searching elsewhere, and found one for thirty bucks.

Next nightmare was trying to get the freakin’ pieces of metal trim off the strap. Like, seriously, are they welded in there?! Finally ripped the pieces out, and put them in boiling water for a half hour to break whatever Loctite from Hell had been used.

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Much cussing later, Satan’s screws were removed, and I was ready for the new strap!

It actually felt much more sturdy, and even was thickened at the breakage prone point between the metal inserts (which is so thin on the original strap, it’s just like Invicta is flipping me off for my numbskullishness for buying this watch).

Only problem….it does NOT fit the watch!!!!!

It is weirdly long where the inserts go, so….you get this cool feature….

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Could drive a car between the spaces that are supposed to be spaceless.

So, dedicated now to this increasingly expensive watch, I have ordered the actual Invicta strap, and have bookmarked a range of other options, since I will no doubt need a back up, haha, if I ever intend to wear this stupid thing!

Here it is now, in all of its strapless glory…..

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SIGH….

New strap should arrive this week, and, at least I have figured out the install process, courtesy of the trial run with the wrong-sized strap. The actual Invicta one will at least have the Subaqua branding, and may even arrive pre-installed with the metal inserts, which would be great.

Wish me luck!

On a side note…

Has anyone tried putting a SAN stainless steel on a poly strap version?? I see they sell a SAN IV, in 45mm, on stainless, but I have never looked to see if the lug connection structure is the same as the poly strapped version, in terms of fitment…

On a side note further….

I located a SAN IV on bracelet, miracle of miracles, and at a great sale price, and so I ordered that, just so I don’t wind up with a SAN IV that is unwearable at some point. It was the last one Invicta had, in stock, and it’s on the way.

It’s a fully silver model, but has blued hands and some inner blue décor on the dial. This is the first time one popped up in a search, so, lucky me.

All in all, a relatively costly search to add a watch to my collection, in this case, but such is the insanity. At least “costly” in Invicta terms is still extremely budget friendly, haha. So, there’s that….and, frown is officially now upside down.

Will update when I get this naked IV all happy in a new, doomed, poly, lol. :)

Thanks for reading, feels better to complain about my choices, haha.
 
Whew...I don't know what to say except your perseverance is to be admired and I'm sure you'll get it sorted...Good Luck!
 
" life is a tale told by a wit idiot ; full of sound and fury, and signifying nothing . " MACBETH

excellent chronicle DIARY OF A MAD WIT... truly captures the madness & obsession of the hobby in a 1st person narrative ...well crafted word play & crystal pix

play on sir ! ride the beast
 
This is why I have stopped buying Invicta. Temptation is still there, but I have developed more will power and less tolerance. I hope it all works out well/better for you.
 
I think you may have dealt with the same lady that bought a Leviathan I had for sale. She blew up my inbox saying the movement was missing pieces and the case had gouges. She said she had a watchmaker take it apart and put it back together claiming it could not be fixed. I knew she was FOS but accepted a return and notified eBay. I got to keep the purchase price and she sent the watch back which was working perfectly and was never opened or taken apart. Resold it and laughed. I still wonder what she was trying to accomplish. If she just didn't like it once she got it I would have taken it back. Oh well. I bet it's the same lady because she blew my inbox up in all caps emails to where eBay had to block her. We could all get together to a write a funny coffee table book with eBay stories.
 
Sounds like a nightmare! So far I have had only good experiences on Ebay the few small issues I had were taken care of ASAP without drama. One seller sent me a different color dial watch than was in the auction they gave me a credit on the watch and gave me a discount to use next time I ordered a watch from them. I kind of made out because the one they sent me was actually selling for more than the one I wanted. Just recently I bought a watch on Poshmark and the seller apologized they had just moved and he could not find it any where so refunded my money ASAP. He also offered me a discount if I ordered one of the other watches he had on sale. I told him if he found the watch just give me a shout and I would still buy it. The thing I hate about watches with specific straps that only fit that watch is the prices they ask for them. So far none of my Invicta straps has failed and I worry about some of my older Russian Divers. I hear a lot of horror stories but mine are all still supple and no cracks or hardening of the material. I am sure sooner or later I will have to buy a replacement and hopefully I can score one cheap. Some straps cost more than the whole watch at TJ Maxx or online from the discount houses.
 
Was definitely some "Fatal" vibes coming from this strange lady, lol. Whole thing was off the wall weird. Thankfully, with a Citizen Promaster and a Seiko Sumo on the way, my next arrivals should be more trouble free. Although there's always alignment issues to ruin my day, lol, but the Citizen, yes, that one is nearly guaranteed to be trouble free.

It's been weird coming back to Invicta at this far end of the hobby. Reminded me why I like them, and why I moved on, haha. But, it's cheap entertainment, I suppose, and at least this is a watch I'll remember, haha.
 
The beauty of Invicta watches is that it doesn't take much to be worth it, ahahaha. Despite the extra spending, it was still a small sum overall and thankfully nothing lost on the crazy lady purchase, thanks to buyer protection.
 
Yup, I hear that. Of course I also hated Hamilton straps, haha, which is more annoying when spending over a thousand bucks.
 
Well said. I guess I've been spoiled by ones without problems, and have actually had more issues, with other brands, but Invicta should be ashamed of these straps. Then again, they are not big on shame, haha, just big on case size, LOL.
 
Wow, that's unreal. I swear some folks are just off in a very strange space. It was Helen something or other, as I recall. I later looked up her store front, and it's all cosmetics, that she sells as "new" but none of it looks to be in original packaging, so maybe this is her racket, although it was very satisfying that eBay didn't even consider her position, remotely, as at all valid. They were very apologetic, and were as amazed at me, by her bizarre efforts. Not so great when one's "evidence" of a new watch is photos of a damaged watch, lol. Pretty sad effort at scamming, really.
 
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