Gevril

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Jeremy Weaver
Part of Gevril’s honored Avenue of the America collection, this automatic stainless steel men’s timepiece (model 5032) features a delightfully illustrated moon phase function at the center of the dial. With an modified retro feel that mixes a sense of history with current style, the watch offers a bevy of little artistic flourishes including a unambiguously patterned guilloche dial and a highly stylized Arabic numeral display that is raised off the surface of the dial. Measuring 44mm wide (1.73 inches), the large, tall rectangular case makes a statement, but it conforms without apparent effort to dissimilar wrist sizes.

The watch case and highly polished bezel are made from surgical grade 316L stainless steel, and it’s complemented by a supple black crocodile leather strap with tonal stitching. The black dial includes silver Arabic numerals, three-handed movement, and a day-and-date dual window sitting under 12 o’clock. Other features include a 25-jeweled automatic motion with a 40-hour power reserve, curved sapphire crystal for splendid scratch resistance, and water resistance to 50 meters (165 feet)–suitable for swimming but not for diving.

An automatic (or self-winding) watch is fitted with a device (rotor) that mechanically winds the spring by using the strength of gravity. It needs no battery, but it will stop if you have been physically inactive for an extended amount of time of time–as long as you’re moving, the watch will stay powered. Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented the self-winding mechanism in 1770. It worked on the same principle as a innovative pedometer, and was designed to wind as the owner walked.

The Gevril Story

Gevril focuses on the details, including raised, hand-painted numbers and CNC-machined Wesselton diamonds.

The Gevril watch company was started out by Jacques Gevril in the mid-1700s in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland’s center of watch-making for centuries. He was a sought-after master of horology, and he invented his primary chronometer in 1743 and his basi repetition dial in 1744. Most notably, he was called upon by the King of Spain in 1758 to invent a personal timepiece, which went over so well that Gevril was appointed as Royal Swiss Watchmaker to the Spanish Crown.

The Gevril family tradition of watchmaking was passed onto Jacques’s son, Moyse Gevril, and in 1784 he achieved the status of Master Clockmaker. During the 1800s, the Gevril family expanded their art to include enameling as well as the creation of dials for their watches. Gevril timepieces are displayed in museums all over Europe–most notably the Museum Geneve and the Rolex Museum (where a Gevril pocket watch is displayed in the collection personally chosen by the Wilsdorf family, the founder of Rolex).

The company was purchased by Samuel Friedmann in 2000, who believed the Gevril name represented an idealisti combining of history and future potential. Today’s signature Avenue of Americas line is based on a case design from the 1920, which was came upon after going through Gevril’s raft of historical documents and design books. It has a retro look, but is modified with a bevelled dial with raised, hand-painted numbers and straight chrono pushers for a contemporary feel.

Creating a Gevril timepiece is exhaustive, and Gevril expends years into the design and manufacture of it is rare and enduring timepiece collections. It manufactures only fixed edition collections, with 6,000 Gevril watches devised each year and each line fixed to 500 (stainless steel) or 100 (gold) pieces. The company also roots only the best materials and accoutrements, including 316L stainless steel, natural mother-of-pearl dials, Wesselton diamonds calibrated by CNC machines and Louisiana crocodile skin.

Gevril

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Gevril

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Gevril

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Gevril

Gevril Photo

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