• FASHION • ACCESSORIES
Vincero Apex Watch Review: Affordable Luxury With A Timeless Look
Reviewed by Nathaniel Lang
Last Updated March 2022
If you’ve been considering embarking upon the realm of higher quality, sleeker looking watches but don’t want to spend a fortune, then check out Vincero.
FEATURED IN THIS REVIEW
EDITOR'S PICK
Vincero
★ 4.6 Stars
Our Rating
★ 4.7 Stars
Avg. Customer Rating
As a modern racing watch, The Apex is upgraded by an intricate Mecha-Quartz movement that uses the most effective components of a traditional battery-operated engine and an automatic movement.
It combines the accuracy of quartz with the distinct look and feel of a mechanical chronograph. Giving you a second's hand that remains passive until initiated by the pushers to measure the passage of time between activation and deactivation. Combined with a Tachymeter, 10ATM water resistance, and swiss lume, the Apex is fearless in delivering a timepiece that is designed to keep up.
Pros
- Elegant, modern design
- More affordable than traditional luxury brands
- Proven scratch resistance
- Water resistant enough to swim (10 ATM)
- High quality stainless steel
- Kept time incredibly well after 7 months
- Clasp is more durable and never accidentally opened
Cons
- While the quality of the material and clasp is above average, arm hair still gets caught
- The metal band is not easily adjustable
Ratings Breakdown
QUALITY
★★★★★
From our durability tests and 7-month experience, nothing has failed or disappointed. Features like the Tachymeter, glow in the dark, and water resistance work as advertised.
VALUE
★★★★
These are very affordable watches with quality that we can corroborate in this review. While there is competition in this luxury-meets-affordability space, it is extremely well priced and Vincero delivers on their promises.
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
★★★★★
Based on reactions from my friends and strangers, the feel, look, and durability, the Vincero Apex Watch performed exceptionally well. There’s a few areas that could be improved or modernized, but I am very satisfied with it.
BRAND
★★★★★
Vincero does a good job making you feel good about your purchase. Their climate neutral rating and how they source their materials make us award a solid 5 stars!
Who is Vincero?
The idea for Vincero came about in 2010 by three college buddies, Aaron Hallerman, Tim Nybo, and Sean Agatep. The three enjoyed good looking personal accessories, but didn’t enjoy the exorbitantly high prices for the lower quality available. They wanted to create a line of products that they would not only wear themselves, but that they could also be proud of.
Since Aaron had been working at a design and production studio in Hong Kong, he got to see the issues with retail production first hand. Using this knowledge, the three put their heads together to resolve the most common issues that afflict most retail businesses.
What they ultimately decided was that their product line needed to be more ethically sourced and intentional in order to be in line with their beliefs. Their initial offerings were launched on Kickstarter, which was a huge success. But they now use their own crowdsourcing platform to let customers help them decide what new products get created, which is pretty cool.
Vincero Apex Watch Performance & Feel
The Vincero Apex Watch has the appearance of some of the more expensive, sleeker racing watches. The weight of this watch is significantly heavier than one would think, which speaks to the quality of the materials.
I’ve worn this watch as my go-to for 7 months now. I’m someone that feels strange not to have a watch on my wrist when I’m out. It just feels right like wearing shoes when you live the house. I can’t say that I need to check the time on it, but it certainly gets used for that purpose occasionally.
Apex Watch Feel
For a metal watch with this weight, it honestly is pretty comfortable on my wrist. I’ve owned other metal watches that just get uncomfortable after prolonged use. I was pleasantly surprised that this one felt as nice as it did. I’ve worn it 8+ hours and the only complaint is occasional sweat.
But that is to be expected with any watch in Arizona. I still had some hairs get caught in the band. Not the worst offender in my experience, but that’s the risk for having metal linked watch bands and hairy arms.
Adjustments
I already had a metal watch band tool, which is really just a pointy piece of metal with a small handle. It was certainly not one of the better versions of metal band tools that exist. I needed to adjust the size to fit my wrist, which ended up being 3 links. With my tool it was a little more difficult that I’d like. I’ve owned other watches with quick release pins and various other modern conveniences for adjusting watch bands so this version felt old fashioned.
But the experience only took about 10 minutes. If you don't have a tool, jewelers will probably do it for free, or even the accessories section at a local Target could adjust it for you.
Reactions To The Apex Watch
I think everyone who has seen me wear this watch has positively commented on it. I’ve had to explain that it is a Vincero and how I liked it far many times. I see strangers eyes flick towards it when I’m at a grocery store or out and about.
My well off engineer friend saw me wearing it when he came to town for the holidays and showed me he owned the same one. That was nice to see. I’ve worn it with lots of different outfits and asked friends and my girlfriend what they think.
Sometimes I got some funny reactions, like when I wore it with my adidas track jacket. It can tend to look a bit out of place with more causal wear like that.
Durability
I’m a average person. I have clutsy moments where spatial awareness flies out the window. This watch has been banged around quite a bit without even intentionally testing it. After 7 months, the only noticeable wear is a few scratch marks on the bezel, which I’m not certain is actually the 316L Surgical stainless steel and maybe it’s the paint.
See my durability tests below for more on this.
Feature: Glow In The Dark
There is a glow in the dark feature where just the hands glow. It is bright enough to work, but I feel like the 12 should have also had the glow feature to give a reference point. My senses are good enough to generally understand what time it is, but having some numbers or ticks under the numbers glow too would have made this feature more useful. As it is, it mostly feels gimmicky. But it does impress people when they see it.
Update! Based on recent images on Vincero's website, it does look like the ticks and numbers have been updated to include the glow in the dark feature as well.
Feature: The Dials and Tachymeter
This style of watch comes with 3 dials. The top one toggles the Tachymeter on by starting the second hand. The bottom one resets it back to 12. And the middle dial adjusts the time in the normal way you would expect. The tachymeter plays a big part in the aesthetic, but I just didn’t end up using it. I’m not sure why anyone would in this day and age. It very much feels like a holdover for this style of watch that we just accept as a normal look. And it is cool, in my opinion.
Feature: Water Resistence
The Apex watch is rated 10 ATM. Some brief background on ATM: this is the standard for measuring water resistance for watches. Basically, it refers to the amount of pressure the watch can take. There's some disagreement for whether 5 ATM rated watches can handle a dip in the pool, but at 10 ATM you are fine to take the Apex watch with you swimming, diving, or snorkeling.
Knowing this, I forced myself to bring it in the pool with me for the purposes of this review. It just felt so wrong, as I’ve never done that with such a nice watch before. It’s been in the pool where I’ve swam around with it multiple times now. Months later, I can’t find any physical or functional issues.
Are Vincero Watches Good Quality?
The Vincero Watch looks like a high end watch, which it is, but it costs exponentially less than its competitors.
The brand has been able to do this by personally sourcing all of their materials worldwide for the best quality that could be achieved. Vincero tends to work with smaller producers that are more specialized in their craft. By doing so, they are able to keep their price points down. They also oversee the manufacturing process via strict quality controls.
Each new product can take approximately a year to design and produce to meet their quality standards. Once the product has been approved, they will release it for their community to begin purchasing. Each product that comes off the manufacturing line is hand checked, which is one of the major aspects that sets them apart from their competitors.
And the fact that they are certified carbon neutral doesn’t hurt either.
Scratch and Durability Tests
I decided to use the links that were taken out of the metal band to test various resistances.
1. Wooden file cabinet. I wanted to simulate a run into a piece of wooden furniture. I have a wooden file cabinet that fit the bill. I took the links in both hands and applied gradually increasing pressure as I banged the links against it at an angle. Results: no noticeable damage.
2. Sharp metal handle. There is a metal handle on that file cabinet that is somewhat sharp. I used the same method as before and started to see some brushes appear on the links. Not super noticeable but clear in the right reflection of light.
3. I took a Smith and Wesson knife to the links. It took some moderate pressure before scratches were noticeable.
Overall - I’d say this will hold up against drops or scuffs against most normal furniture or terrain. But it still has the risk of damage against sharp metal corners and high-velocity/pressure impacts.
Are Vincero Watches Worth It?
When it comes to watches, there can be a huge difference in price points and quality. A lot of this comes down to the materials used, where the watch is manufactured, and how it’s marketed. Ultimately, Vincero does direct to consumer marketing, which cuts down on their costs tremendously.
Their watches are produced in China, which doesn’t always speak of higher worth. However, a lot of watches are currently manufactured in China using lower quality raw materials and charge a lot more money. Vincero keeps a full time employee at the manufacturing plant to hand check every product that comes off the manufacturing line prior to shipping to make sure it meets their quality standards. This is a basically unheard of practice, which definitely increases their worth in my opinion.
And seeing as most of their watches come in around the $200 mark, what you’re getting for that price point is pretty spot on. It doesn’t hurt that they also offer a 5 year limited warranty on their watches, which only helps boost their ultimate worth higher.
FAQs
Choosing a luxury watch can be a big decision for a lot of consumers. So before you decide whether or not a Vincero Watch is the right choice for you, here are some of the most common consumer questions posed.
Vincero Watch Summary
Overall, if you have been considering getting a luxury watch, Vincero is a good company to consider. They are certified carbon neutral and are involved in every step of the design, production, and shipping. Which is a lot more than I can say for most other watch manufacturers that I’ve run across. They are continually increasing their offerings, based on what their customers say they want. I love this kind of community involvement and desire to create positive change while creating luxury accessories.