Now that wouldn’t bother the many good sons out there, but given my particular distaste toward my mother, that was shocking news indeed. It didn’t really register with me since I hadn’t seen my mother in a month, and it was no longer in her style to pay surprise visits to my humble abode, but because it came from my adorable little piglet I had no reason at all to doubt her.

So I come rushing out of the shower in a towel-soaked panic and attempt to make a call to my mother to inquire as to the puzzling circumstance that might bring her to my dwelling on this most random of Tuesdays.

Then… comes the “April Fool’s!” delivery .

Good one…

I really dread this day. Constantly looking over your shoulder to see who might trick you next tends to make one feel like a hunted animal.

Fortunately enough though, this is also a day where you get to fool people without consequence. You can even wear a fake watch, or an imitation watch, and the chances are that I will not scold you for it. The rest of the 364 days of the year please beware, because if I catch you wearing a fake, Big Poppa is gonna come for YOU!

Well all this April Fool’s stuff has got me thinking about how many watch imitations and counterfeits there are and how brazenly those wearers show off their crass forgeries. And when it comes to watch companies, no company is more notorious for imitations than the Invicta watch company.

You see, Invicta is a watch company that may have some history and a variety of models in all shapes and sizes, but they are notorious in the watch world for imitating the models of other brands, most notably Rolex.

Don’t just take my word for it, here are some of MANY examples.

Here is the iconic Rolex Submariner. You have seen this on the watch in more Bond movies than any other watch. This watch is arguably the most iconic watch of our time, the most imitated, and the most important. I owned one several years ago, and for me, it’s not hard to see why the world loves this watch:

Here’s the real deal, the real McCoy, the legendary Rolex Submariner:

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date Steel Mens Watch 16610

Now here is the strikingly similar Invicta Pro Diver:

Invicta Men’s Automatic Pro Diver S2 Stainless Steel 8926OB

Not enough convincing, here is yet another model for your viewing pleasure:

Rolex Platinum Yachtmaster:

GENUINE MANS ROLEX STAINLESS YACHTMASTER FULLSIZE 16622

And now the Invicta version of it:

Invicta Men’s Pro Diver Collection Automatic Watch #9210

A non Rolex here with the Bell & Ross BR-01:

Bell & Ross Men’s Watches Instrument BR 01-92 BR01-92-BLK-SL-PVD – WW

And here is the Invicta version:

Invicta Square Corduba 3964 (Men’s)

Ladies and gentlemen, if I listed out all the models Invicta has copied then I will be here all day.

I, however, can see the reason why many of you might be tempted to purchase one of these imitations. From a bargaining standpoint it makes absolute sense. I mean why pay several thousands of dollars on a watch when you can have a watch that looks just like it for no more than a few hundred?

I’ll tell you why…

If you are thinking about buying these watches for the look than you are just kidding yourselves. I’m willing to bet that your frugal butt might buy one of these in the hopes of fooling some poor soul into thinking you actual have the real deal, and that the deception might automatically open up penthouse doors to a world of naked women and various other forms of debauchery. I don’t know what you may be thinking, but you are not fooling anyone.

Rather than let my imagination run wild I will just suggest that you steer clear of Invicta. They may look the same, but THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!!!

Bottom Line: If you want a Rolex Submariner, BUY A ROLEX SUBMARINER!!!

Well to start, the Bell & Ross company was founded in 1993 by two French DESIGNERS! And in here lies the first problem. Mr. Bell and Mr. Ross may have had some experience in aeronautic controls or something, but generally speaking designers are people more focused on form rather than function, they are marketers, they are people who pretend to write novels in coffee shops, and they are largely superficial and annoying.

That’s all well and good when it comes to making a vase or something that just needs to sit still and do nothing, but when it comes to complicated moving machines such as watches, I would imagine that one would prefer to purchase a watch that was made by actual watchmakers?!?

Well to get around the fact that watch entrepreneurs Mr. Bell and Mr. Ross didn’t know anything about actual watchmaking, their first watches were basically just rehashed versions of watches made by the German watch company Sinn.

Now Sinn is a fantastic watch company, and what I respect about Sinn is that their company builds watches with a purpose. They first started by building watches for pilots who required better performance out of existing watches of the era, and sure enough Sinn used their vast aviation experience to answer the call. Currently they have a variety of models that can withstand extremes in pressure, altitudes, speeds, depth, you name it! They are a fantastic watch company indeed and I respect them hugely.

Their partnership eventually ended, and now that Bell & Ross are now out on their own, they too claim their watches to be professional “instruments” designed to survive nuclear holocausts and the like. On their website they even claim to make watches for bomb squads. Well I would imagine that if a bomb did indeed blow up, whether or not the watch survives is the least of a bomb squads’ worries.

This all sounds a little silly to me, but they are not the first watch company guilty to market their watches as “professional” tools/instruments so I’ll let it go.

While this company may not make real professional tools, I can’t get over how tooled this company seems. To start, Mr. Bell and Mr. Ross are actually Bruno Belamich and Carlos Rosillo, and as you can see, “Bell” and “Ross” aren’t even the real names of the founders. I guess “Belamich & Rosillo” sounded too ethnic or something and the marketing department gave them a call? Who knows…

This company, furthermore, is officially a SWISS company. Now what’s wrong with that you might ask? Well considering the fact that the founders are French and that it acquired all of their watchmaking know-how from a GERMAN watch company, I would say it is their duty to found their company in Germany or France rather than revel in the high reputation that only Swiss watches enjoy.

Another thing with them is that their “professional” tools, or “instruments,” just end up looking like clocks one might pull out of a 1940’s WWII rectal probing machine:

Bell & Ross Men’s Watches Instrument BR 01-92 BR01-92-BLK-SL-PVD – WW

Yeah I get the appeal, it looks like some military clock, but this is the only trick Bell & Ross have got under their sleeve, and there isn’t really anything professional about this watch at all. It doesn’t seem to have a particularly high depth rating, as far as I know it isn’t anti-magnetic, it doesn’t have precise markers, and at around $4,000.00 it is so expensive.

This company also offers their probe clock with diamonds:

Yup… this looks like a professional tool to me… I can tell you that there are no Sinn watches with diamonds that I am aware of. Yeesh!

Where do Bell & Ross get the gall to price their watches so high? What makes them think in their short teenage history that they can price their watches to run with the big boys. Sinn watches cost a fraction of the price and you get so much more watch and so much more value.

In the opinion of your humble presenter, Bell & Ross is a company that was founded to cash in on the haute horology market. Their probe clock is an unique design I’ll give you that, but there’s no reason it should cost as much as it does. Watch companies should be founded by people with a passion for watchmaking and should not be started just to cash in on a very filling pie.