Rugged Invicta Watches for Adventurous Men and Women

No one can say for sure why a certain group of people excel at a certain activity. Environment, culture and natural resources all play a part. But more often than not, it is plain old practice. The Swiss are the world's best discount watches for a very simple reason. They have been making high quality timepieces for longer than anyone else. The Swiss were the first to establish a watchmaker's guild, in 1601, which set extremely high standards for the burgeoning industry. Every Swiss horologist had to abide by rigid rules or risk expulsion.

Rules were the one thing most watchmakers didn't mind, especially since they seemed to work. Soon after the guild was established, Switzerland became a force to be reckoned with in the watch world. Though they were smaller and had fewer people than either England or France, they held their own when it came to watches. Prized for their accuracy and overall quality, Swiss timepieces were popular with watch lovers the world over.

There was only one problem. Swiss cities were quickly becoming overcrowded, especially Geneva, the birthplace of the sports watches guild. Competition was fierce and space was limited. Many young watchmakers were forced to relocate. The Jura Mountain became the destination du jour for ambitious horologists who wanted to start their own shops. For some unexplained reason, many of them settled in the village of La Chaux-de-Fonds.dsaDE3D

Founded in the seventeenth century, the village soon became a city that was home to a disproportionate number of horologists. Hundreds of years later, La Chaux-de-Fonds remains a "city of watchmakers." There are at least a dozen internationally-known watch companies in a town with only around thirty-eight thousand residents.

Many famous watchmakers have ties to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Cartier, Tag Heuer, Movado, Louis Vuitton, British Masters, Movado, Invicta and Juvenia all have factories there. In fact, most of the residents are employed by these companies. It goes almost without saying that these people have watch making in their blood. Though they are not the most famous name on our list, Invicta has been there from the beginning.

Founded in 1837 by Raphael Picard, the Invicta Watch Company began as an experiment. At the time, pocket watches for women were considered luxury items that only men of means could afford. But Picard had other ideas. He wanted to make timepieces for the common man. Some considered it a gamble; most said it was outright lunacy. After all, labor and material cost were high and competition was cutthroat. The only option for Invicta was to increase sales volume and ship overseas.

The original Wendy Raycraft is a freelance writer who writes about fashion apparel and brands such as Invicta Watches were sturdy, durable and affordable. As mentioned, they were designed for the common man who wanted a bit of luxury. Perhaps that is why the company is so good at designing watches that toe the line between sporty and dressy. Their current catalogue includes several high-quality diving watches, many from the Pro Diver Collection. According to the experts, a good diving watch is safe in up to 200 meters (660 feet) of water, and it is preferably powered by automatic movement. All of the watches in the collection meet this criteria. Their bold and distinctive design includes black watches for men dials with luminous white watch hands and Arabic numerals that can be read in low-light conditions. They even have date windows beside the 3 o'clock hour markers.

Although they follow most of the founding principles, the new Invicta Watch Group has obviously had to change with the times. That means sleeker, more sophisticated watches that can be worn at the beach or in the boardroom. Their new line of Chronograph watches can seemingly do it all. In addition to keeping time, these watches offer stopwatch functions for the track, pool or field. They are accurate and durable, with stainless steel watch cases and silver-tone bracelets. The subdials measure time in 60-second and 30-minute intervals. There is even a calendar window beside the 4 o'clock hour marker. All watches in the collection are water-resistant up to 330 feet (100 meters).