Invicta Watch Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Watch Maker |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1837 |
| Headquarters | Hollywood, FL |
| Key people | Eyal Lalo, CEO |
| Industry | Watch manufacturing |
| Products | Wristwatches, accessories |
| Website | www.invictawatch.com |
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Invicta Watch Group is a Florida-based watch company founded in 1837 by Raphael Picard in La Chaux-de-fonds, Switzerland. The Picard family owned and operated the company until 1991, when the company was purchased by a United States-based investment company. The corporate headquarters were relocated to Hollywood, Florida, where the company also operates its service call center and repair facilities. Eyal Lalo, a third-generation watchmaker, is the CEO of the company and frequently appears on televised ShopNBC programs.
The new management took over manufacturing and continued to market watches under the Invicta banner. Apart from the Invicta brand, the Invicta Watch Group is also responsible for the S. Coifman, Potger-Pietri, Activa, Brizo, Cacciato & Joss, Pastorelli and Technica lines.
Upon moving primary operations from Switzerland, Invicta has continued to design watches, but have outsourced manufacturing to third parties in Switzerland and the Far East. Recently the company also began assembling from facilities at the company's Florida headquarters. Any timepieces manufactured in the United States are part of the "Made in the USA" collection. Swiss-made watches are labeled as such, while the Far East watches are labeled with the country of origin of their movement, as Invicta utilizes ETA (Swiss), Sellita (Swiss), RONDA (Swiss) and Citizen/Miyota (Japanese) movements in their product lines. Invicta is developing its own proprietary movements upon the purchase of Technica Swiss Ebauche Microtenique.
Arguably, Invicta's most lauded releases were the Pro Diver and Lupah product lines. The watches in the Invicta Pro Diver series, modeled after the Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster, have become widely considered as some of the finest automatic divers for its price point.[1] The Invicta Lupah is available in 196,560 variations and is one of the company's most distinct designs.[2]
The Invicta Watch Group also markets products besides watches including hats and bags.
[edit] External links
Invicta Watch Group is a Florida-based watch company. The original Invicta was founded in 1837 by Raphael Picard in La Chaux-de-fonds, Switzerland. The Picard family owned and operated the company until 1991, when the company was purchased by a United States-based investment company named Invicta Watch Group. The corporate headquarters were relocated to Hollywood, Florida, where the company also operates its service call center and repair facilities. Eyal Lalo, who claims to be a third-generation watchmaker, is the CEO of the company and frequently appears on televised ShopNBC programs.
The new management took over manufacturing and continued to market watches under the Invicta banner. Apart from the Invicta brand, the Invicta Watch Group is also responsible for the S. Coifman, Potger-Pietri, Activa, Brizo, Cacciato & Joss, Pastorelli and Swiss Technica Ebauche lines.
Upon moving primary operations from Switzerland, Invicta has continued to design watches, but have outsourced manufacturing to third parties in Switzerland and the Far East. Recently the company also began assembling from facilities at the company's Florida headquarters. Any timepieces manufactured in the United States are part of the "Made in the USA" collection. Swiss-made watches are labeled as such, while the Far East watches are labeled with the country of origin of their movement, as Invicta utilizes ETA (Swiss), Sellita (Swiss), RONDA (Swiss) and Citizen/Miyota (Japanese) movements in their product lines. Invicta is developing its own proprietary movements upon the purchase of Technica Swiss Ebauche Microtenique.
Arguably, Invicta's most lauded releases were the Pro Diver and Lupah product lines. The watches in the Invicta Pro Diver series, modeled after the Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster, are considered by some to a decent automatic diver for its price point.[1] The Invicta Lupah is available in 196,560 variations and is one of the company's most distinct designs.[2]
The Invicta Watch Group also markets products besides watches including hats and bags. Recently Invicta Watch Group was sued by INVICTA S.P.A (Civil Action No. 09 CV 2479 (PAC))for Trademark Infringement under the Lanham Act. That case is still active.
There has been some controversy regarding the accuracy of the term Technica Swiss Ebauche. The US owned Invicta Watch Company has long used mechanical movements from well-known sources such as ETA and Miyota. Recently they have expanded their range to include watches with mechanical movements described as "Technica Swiss Ebauches". When questioned, Invicta has allegedly stated that Technica Swiss Ebauches is not a company, but simply a brand registered to Invicta.
1. Technica Swiss Ebauches is a name registered by Invicta. It is not a company as such, and it may or may not represent a manufacturing facility.
2. Technica Swiss Ebauches is not Swiss. The only Swiss connection is Eyal Lalo's Swiss grandmother who allegedly designed the Zlatoust 191-ChS for the Soviet Navy
In a reputed conversation between Eyal Lalo and a watch collector using the ID gigfy at a well know watch forum the following post refers to an alleged conversation between the two.
“I have had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Lalo himself and this is what he told me about the Technica Swiss Ebauche mechanical chronograph movement.
He said that the movement is assembled in Korea. Invicta outsources some labor from Seagull employees and source some parts from Seagull. A team of Swiss watchmakers manages the assembly. He also indicated that they are seeing better performance from their movements and are able to extend this value to the customer.” There has been speculation that Invicta were running a movement-finishing facility in Switzerland, but they have been found to have no holdings in that country. Later there were claims that the Technica movements were sourced from Japan, although they did not match the appearance of any known Japanese calibres. The 'Technica Swiss Ebauche mechanical chronograph' and the 'Japanese 1902 movement' are for all practical purposes the same thing. They are both reputed to be Seagull ST1902 movements. Some known Chinese calibres alleged to have been rebadged as Technica Swiss Ebauches: Sea-Gull ST19 Sea-Gull ST36 Standard skeleton Hangzhou 2189 & 2198 Shanghai 2H Forum link for verification: http://watchtalkforums.info/forums/showthread.php?p=69539
The name Technica Swiss Ebauches has caused confusion with some consumers who assume that it implies a certain amount of Swiss content in the movement, however it is important to note that Invicta watches marked as having Technica Swiss Ebauches movements are never labeled either "Swiss Made" or "Swiss Movement". Conversely, Invicta watches labeled "Swiss Made" never have TSA movements. Another interesting story Invicta advertises deals with the Invicta Russian Diver Watch, Model 2625. As the story goes this watch replicates a design Invicta originally made in 1959 when the watch was commissioned for the Russian Naval Fleet. Roughly, Invicta made 100 pieces for elite divers in the Russian Navy. Other variations of this story claim that 100 special versions of the standard Russian Diver watch were made for Officers. As of this date, none of these have been seen in public or seen by collectors. On the website for Invicta Watch Group, under the Historic Drop box, the history of Invicta blends into one storyline although there is a definitive break in timeline and ownership. Reading the entry on the website as it is currently displayed; one might get the impression that Eyal Lolo is related to the original owners of the company. That is not the case.
[edit] References
There has been some controversy regarding the accuracy of the term Technica Swiss Ebauche. The US owned Invicta Watch Company has long used mechanical movements from well-known sources such as ETA and Miyota. Recently they have expanded their range to include watches with mechanical movements described as "Technica Swiss Ebauches". When questioned, Invicta has allegedly stated that Technica Swiss Ebauches is not a company, but simply a brand registered to Invicta.
1. Technica Swiss Ebauches is a name registered by Invicta. It is not a company as such, and it may or may not represent a manufacturing facility.
2. Technica Swiss Ebauches is not Swiss. The only Swiss connection is Eyal Lalo's Swiss grandmother who allegedly designed the Zlatoust 191-ChS for the Soviet Navy
In a reputed conversation between Eyal Lalo and a watch collector using the ID gigfy at a well know watch forum the following post refers to an alleged conversation between the two.
“I have had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Lalo himself and this is what he told me about the Technica Swiss Ebauche mechanical chronograph movement.
He said that the movement is assembled in Korea. Invicta outsources some labor from Seagull employees and source some parts from Seagull. A team of Swiss watchmakers manages the assembly. He also indicated that they are seeing better performance from their movements and are able to extend this value to the customer.” There has been speculation that Invicta were running a movement-finishing facility in Switzerland, but they have been found to have no holdings in that country. Later there were claims that the Technica movements were sourced from Japan, although they did not match the appearance of any known Japanese calibres. The 'Technica Swiss Ebauche mechanical chronograph' and the 'Japanese 1902 movement' are for all practical purposes the same thing. They are both reputed to be Seagull ST1902 movements. Some known Chinese calibres alleged to have been rebadged as Technica Swiss Ebauches: Sea-Gull ST19 Sea-Gull ST36 Standard skeleton Hangzhou 2189 & 2198 Shanghai 2H Forum link for verification: http://watchtalkforums.info/forums/showthread.php?p=69539
The name Technica Swiss Ebauches has caused confusion with some consumers who assume that it implies a certain amount of Swiss content in the movement, however it is important to note that Invicta watches marked as having Technica Swiss Ebauches movements are never labeled either "Swiss Made" or "Swiss Movement". Conversely, Invicta watches labeled "Swiss Made" never have TSA movements. Another interesting story Invicta advertises deals with the Invicta Russian Diver Watch, Model 2625. As the story goes this watch replicates a design Invicta originally made in 1959 when the watch was commissioned for the Russian Naval Fleet. Roughly, Invicta made 100 pieces for elite divers in the Russian Navy. Other variations of this story claim that 100 special versions of the standard Russian Diver watch were made for Officers. As of this date, none of these have been seen in public or seen by collectors. On the website for Invicta Watch Group, under the Historic Drop box, the history of Invicta blends into one storyline although there is a definitive break in timeline and ownership. Reading the entry on the website as it is currently displayed; one might get the impression that Eyal Lolo is related to the original owners of the company. That is not the case.
There has also been speculation as to the origins of the S.Coifman and Potger Pietri brands. There have been claims of one or both having Swiss Factories. Records indicate that Invicta Watch Group does not have a facility there but may have a third party vendor brand watches for them. One such company is Antigone. All of the known declared addresses for Invicta Watch Group in Switzerland were in fact contractors. Claude Meylan's watches look like S Coifmans. Look at the address of this company and you will be able to confirm that S.Coifman watches indeed originate with Antigone. ShopNBC, which is apparently the only source for S.Coifman, sometimes will include a note that you will get a certificate from Antigone with an S Coifman. Claude Meylan is part of Antigone.
