Vincero Watches Review | Are Vincero Watches Worth It?
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Is Vincero a good watch brand? That’s the question I’ve been receiving since my series of videos on similar fashion watch brand MVMT. Vincero is one of those who also bombard you with advertisements across social media and seemingly follow you around the internet. They claim to offer ‘luxury watches’ that are ‘exceptionally crafted’ for an affordable price. I’ve seen a variety of YouTubers touting these as if they were the second coming of Christ.
As good as their marketing may be, in this article, we’ll be seeing what you actually get for your money.
A couple of months ago, I purchased a Vincero Chrono S watch, for a fee of £130, to see how it compares to their bold claims. To note, the regular retail price of this model has increased to £160 at the time of writing this post.
Packaging
The watch arrived in a typical padded box, which is common for these Chinese fashion watches. I’ve seen near exact packaging from a variety of brands before. Overall, it’s fine, it will protect the watch in transit to your door; it’s also better than the packaging provided with some lower cost watches.
Watch Band
The strap included with this Vincero watch is made of top-grain leather. This technically places it a grade above the ‘genuine leather’ used by the majority of fashion watch companies, which is a nice start. My chosen strap was this tan croc piece, which looks nice but is certainly very firm and tough. Personally, I prefer my leather straps to be soft and plush, however, it seems I could use this one as a catapult. Nevertheless, I have seen much, much worse quality elsewhere and overall, I think the brand have done okay here.
It comes with the traditional steel buckle and tang and features quick release tabs; allowing for quick strap switches.
Case CONSTRUCTION
The case is constructed of 316L stainless steel, the standard material used in watches at this price point. This is a durable metal and the quality of that used in this Vincero watch feels premium. I anticipate this will last well over time and should be resistance to scratches and scuffs. The finishing on the watch is a simple high shine finish throughout. It’s rather uninspiring and basic, though fits their intended theme. I do like the shape of the lugs, as they protrude from the main body of the case, they are done well and nicely accommodate the 22mm strap.
On the rear is a marble showcase, alongside some cheesy slogans, which I’m assuming are there to make the watch seem more premium. Personally, I think this is unnecessary; considering it won’t even be visible when worn on the wrist. However, at least it’s some sort of unique standout feature of the watch. It is to be noted, this does seem to add to the depth of the watch; which we’ll mention in a moment. Worryingly, the marketing indicates that this silver marbled rear is present on all of the Vincero colourways, meaning if you choose a model outside of silver, the majority of the case will clash with this silver rear. Another poorly executed element of the watch. I could forgive this in a £30 watch, but not when I’m paying £130.
This watch does advertise 50m (5ATM) of water resistance, which is above the 30m found in most watches with similar styling to this. This will allow some contact with water without worrying, though personally, I wouldn’t recommend swimming in the watch.
DIMENSIONS
As previously alluded to, this is a relatively thick watch, with a depth rivalling that of many mechanical watches at just over 11mm. Paired with the large 43mm diameter, the watch sits heftily on the wrist and dominates my smaller wrists. For some of their models, this is the default size and I think this is really large for a standard model. In my opinion it makes the watch look tacky and cheap, rather than the luxury aesthetic they’re trying for.
Fortunately, since purchasing my watch a while back, Vincero have released a 40mm version of the Chrono S, which I anticipate will suit most wrist sizes far better – it’s definitely the one I’d go for (if I had to purchase one of them).
Glass
Vincero watches feature sapphire-coated mineral crystal, not to be confused with genuine sapphire crystal glass. This is a rather obscure and little is known about their true effectiveness. My impression, from researching the subject, suggests this is somewhat of a halfway house between the popular mineral glass and full sapphire crystal. This means it should have relatively good scratch resistance and anti-shatter properties.
It’s good that they haven’t just cheapened out on basic flat mineral glass, like so many brands do. Personally, I’d still rather stick with sapphire glass, as this is proven to provide fantastic scratch protection.
Vincero Watch Movement
Powering most Vincero watches are cheap Miyota quartz movements. These are completely okay, but nothing more than that. They can be purchased individually for around £3, so are far from a ‘luxury’ component by any means. I’ve seen these fitted inside watches at 1/10th of the price of this Chrono S, so it’s disappointing to see this in a watch that has supposedly been ‘exceptionally crafted’. There’s absolutely nothing exceptional about a super cheap quartz movement that has been fired off a machined production line.
The extreme close proximity of the sub-dials to the centre of the watch suggests the movements chosen are too small to suit these chronograph styles; though, we’ll cover design in a moment.
Vincero do have a line of automatic non-chronograph watches. These used to be extortionately priced at around £300; however, since the publishing of my video review, they seem to have been reduced significantly to a standard retail price of £140. This is much more reasonable. If you truly have you heart set on one of these Vincero watches, then try and get one with the automatic movement in – in my opinion it’s more bang for your buck. You might not be able to get the chronograph design, but at least you won’t have to deal with a cheap movement.
Dial DESIGN
Overall, the dial is one of the most disappointing parts of this watch. It’s clear to me that very little time, effort or expertise has gone into producing this Chrono S design, as it’s ridden with a series of poor design decisions. To begin with, the base material that forms the majority of the dial looks like a piece of white paper, this is compounded by the total lack of texture on any of the sub-dials. I understand they might be going for that more minimalist look, however, when paired with the basic, inked logo, it contributes to an immediate cheap feel.
The minute and second hands also fall far short of the chapter ring – this just seems like a clumsy choice that may have more to do with the weak movement than the designer’s creativity. That chapter ring is raised from the rest of the dial, once more contributing to an increase in watch depth. The font used here and across the sub-dials doesn’t seem to match the minimalist vibe, as it looks like they have just selected ‘Times New Roman’ – the basic and boring Microsoft Word font. It just doesn’t fit.
Aside from that, the overall look of the hands is nice and the hour markers look good. I particularly like the sharpening design of the second hand. Nevertheless, this watch is being advertised as a luxury, exceptionally crafted watch. Anyone with an ounce of horological knowledge will immediately recognise that this dial looks far from luxury. I’ve owned watches that cost a quarter of this Vincero, that look significantly more premium; even to an untrained eye.
The sub-dials are also so tight to the centre of the watch (due to the cheap, ill-fitting movement) that the dial lacks a sense of balance. You’ve got a barrage of dials in the centre and then a large empty gap to the chapter ring. Other chronographs seem to give a more even appearance, that tend to be more aesthetically pleasing than this one – with the sub-dials nicely spread.
All of these factors combine to give this watch a rather clumsy and boring appearance.
Are Vincero Watches Good or Bad?
Does the product match the marketing? No. It’s not a luxury watch and is clearly not exceptionally crafted. Honestly, it’s just a bog-standard Chinese-made fashion watch, paired with exaggerated marketing.
There is a plethora of watches that have more to offer for below the £150 mark. For example, the Orient Bambino offers an in-house automatic movement, with better case finishing and design. The Pagani Design chronograph offers a more premium look for far less money.
I just don’t know what would make me purchase one of these (outside of for review purposes). As a result, I cannot recommend them; especially when you consider the price increase to £160, to facilitate the ever-increasing number of ‘discounts’. If this watch was priced at £99 and had less intrusive marketing, it may be a different story.
One thing to note, when you’re going through reviews for these Vincero watches, keep a keen eye out for sponsored posts. I’ve seen several ‘review’ videos that have been paid for by the brand, making them inherently biased and untrustworthy.
Additionally, try and assess the reviewer’s knowledge of wristwatches in general. This brand has a tendency to target audiences who know little about wristwatches, in an attempt to sell them on this ‘luxury’ ideology. They often send these watches out to YouTubers in unrelated genres. Some of these creators automatically and naively give these products glowing reviews, because they have no wristwatch knowledge.
