Invicta Toledo Corduba Automatic 3965 Watch

This a review of my 2 year old Invicta Toledo Corduba Automatic 3965 Watch. How's that for a mouthful. How I got this watch was very interesting. I first saw this watch back in early 2007 when I was in Hong Kong. I wanted to get the watch but did not. It was like visit the shop, looked at it then walk away. Regret not buying it. As luck would have it, I visited Hong Kong again at the later part of the year. It was like , drop the bags at the hotel and straight to the watch shop. And the rest is history.

Many people have had their comments about how it was a cheap rip-off a B&R 01 and how it looked like a clock. However, I like this watch. Yes the design is very much akin to the Bell & Ross, but like one German watch maker said to me once, "It looks like one of my watches, but then I do not own the design nor do we own the rights to the design" when he was talking about the number of B-Uhr watches out there. I am OK with other company 'copying' the design of another as long as they don't make fakes.

Basic specification:

Movement: Miyota 8215

Function: hour, minute, seconds, date

Water resistant: 20 ATM

Case: 316L stainless steel, diameter 46 mm

Crystal: Mineral, single AR coating

This is a large watch. It is square and measures 46 X 46 mm. With the crown, it is 50 X 46 mm, lug to lug, it is 55 mm. It is also almost 13 mm thick. The case is made of 316L surgical grade stainless steel. The case in black ion plated and it matte in finish. 4 hexagonal screws decorate the case at each corner. The screws are polished. It has a round dial.

On the left of the case, we have the Invicta signature. The quality of the engraving is good. The lugs are decorated with polished screw design. The screws cannot be removed nor does it hold the strap.

On the right side we find the crown. It is the push pull design and is signed with the Invicta logo. The crown is polished and is also knurled. It is large, measuring 7 mm in diameter and 5 mm thick. It is easy to use. It has 3 positions, in for winding, 1st position for the date adjustment and 2nd for the time adjustment. The crown is the non screw down type but the watch offers a water resistant rating of 200 M.

The dial is round and large. It is 40 mm in diameter. It is made of genuine black carbon fiber. The minute markers and hour markers (12, 3, 6 and 9) are in rendered in orange Tritnite luminous paint. The dauphine hands are also rendered in orange Tritnite. The entire second hand is in orange Tritnite. The lume on this watch is good but not great.

The black carbon fiber dial does give a 3 dimensional look and it matches very well with the orange of the markers and hands. Overall, it looks good and very easy to read. The date window is at the 3 o'clock position and it is small. It sits inside the fingers of the number 3. The Invicta signature is at 12 o'clock and just above the number 6 hour marker, we find the wordings 'AUTOMATIC, WATER RESISTANT 200 METERS'. Below the 6 is 'JAPAN MOVT'.

The rehaut is marked with the minute markings, also in orange. The first 15 minutes is marked ala divers watch.

The watch does not have a bezel per say. The crystal is mounted in a bezel type flange. The flange is 46 mm in diameter and is 5 mm thick and 3 mm in height.

The case back is made of stainless steel and is not black ion plated. It has a matte finish and is held in place by 8 screws, 2 at each corner. The case back is decorated with the Invicta signature, Model no. 3965, Water Resistant 200 M, Automatic and Stainless Steel. The etching of the markings is very good. The case back has a display back. However, I have no idea why it is not clear but is reddish or pinkish in colour. Perhaps this is to distract the fact that the movement is undecorated and plain.

The overall design of the case gives it a tool watch look. I like it. It has an amazing look and the quality is amazing for the price.

The watch is powered by the Miyota 8215 movement.

Basic specification:

11-1/2 ligne/ 26 mm diameter

3 hand design with date

21,600 A/h

21 jewels

Single direction winding (left with indicator on rotor)

This a robust and reliable movement made by Miyota (a Citizen company). It does not offer the hacking feature. It does offer the quick date adjustment function.

The movement is small and is held in place with a huge plastic spacer.

The watch comes with 2 leather straps. The difference between the 2 straps is the buckle. The buckles are the same design, one finish in the black ion plating, the other in matte stainless steel. The strap is made of calf leather and is 4 mm thick. It has the Invicta signature on the inside of the strap. It has white stitching for contrast. The strap has an inside lug measurement of 24 mm. It tapers towards the tip, 32 mm down to 22 mm.

The interesting aspect of the strap is the way the strap is attached to the watch. It is not held by the standard spring bars, but it has a special quick release attachment. The allows for the easy removal and installation of the strap. In fact it takes about 1 second to remove and another second to install.

The quick change setup is much like the latch design we find on doors. It has an 'L' shape cut-out for the pin to move in. Push the pin up and towards the center to remove the pin from the holes on the lugs and the strap comes off. Reverse the process and the strap is locked in.

The strap is locked in position. The pin is locked against the 'L' cut-out.

Below we can see the pin in unlocked position and the strap removed from the watch. Pushing the pin to the left will cause the point/ pin on the right to go into the strap and the strap can be removed from the watch.

The buckles on this watch is big and thick. The buckles are 2 mm thick and is made of stainless steel. It is signed Invicta. It is matte with vertical brushing. The buckle is high quality. However the tang fails the watch.

The tip of the tang is not round and looks like some material is missing.

Overall, for the price, you get an automatic watch with a solid stainless steel construction, interesting design and style. It has an amazing look, finish and fit (except for the buckle). You will get noticed. I think it makes a great daily beater, an amazing pilot look watch.