So we have all heard of Invicta watches right? So the modern incarnation of the company produce very bold and large timepieces however did you know that Invicta is a really old Swiss brand that was founded in 1837 by Raphael Picard in La-Chaux-De-Fonds. The company remained a family owned business up until the 80s. The quartz crisis hit them heard as it did many brands at the time.
I have always had my eye on Invicta. I have wanted to add a watch to my collection and also to video a restoration to bring awareness to the brands historic past. It has just taken a long time to find one suitable. I have saved searches on eBay that I get emailed on daily but nothing comes up that I either like or is in the really low price range I want to find one in! That was until one day in November 2021 when this one caught my eye.
Typically the listing photos were not great and it was described as not running so a perfect candidate. I was drawn mainly to the day date complication at 6 and that it had an applied logo which some do not. I won the auction for a hefty price of £22.89 plus a bit of postage.
It arrived in no time at all and upon opening the parcel I knew why it was not working. The second hand was touching the minute hand. Wind the hands on and I would watch the second hand tick until it hit the minute hand.
So a few days later I got the camera setup and filmed the restoration of this watch. If you would like to watch that then make yourself a cup of tea and click play.
The watch has a lovely AS1906 movement in it but its a rather complicated one with many springs and bridges. The worst being the automatic works that when I removed from the movement in one piece it promptly fell apart and I had no idea where the parts would go. I didn’t realise it was not screwed together! Bit of a mad design if you ask me as assembly was also fiddly.
Needless to say it all went back together well and I was pleased that it would run again for another 10 years at least.
As the case is gold plated with some of the brass case showing through I just used metal polish to clean it all up to look the same. Okay the brass will tarnish again but its an easy fix to bring it back to bright again.
So here is the finished watch. With a new crystal it shows off the starburst gold dial perfectly.
(Fancy finding your own Vintage Invicta? Check out my Watch Sales page for eBay listings of current UK watches for sale on a buy it now basis. https://myretrowatches.co.uk/watch-sales/#/
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