[GreazyThumbs]

I need some assistance from the watch cognoscenti, as I am a lowly newb. I just had my wife grab me a Gevril GV2 Stadium #4013b, I wanted to know if this is a good watch compared to say Tissot or Hamilton automatics. Does anyone know what movement this watch has and the quality of the movement. Your thoughts on the Brand, quality, value are much appreciated. This is babies first Swiss auto, so I want to make sure I pick out a good one for the money. Or should I have saved my money and gone with a Hamilton? :-s

Thanks,
J.

 

[GreazyThumbs]

Anyone have an opinion?

 

[Craig M]

what kind of movement? if it's an ETA under/around $300 seems pretty fair to me...

I would think there would be some other opinions soon

More importantly...Welcome to WUS!!

 

[Klostrophobic]

Not sure about this piece, but GV2 is a relatively new brand born out of a defunct swiss brand (Gevril). So they market themselves as 100+ years history, but its a bit misleading as GV2 is recent.

They have an irritating habit of slapping outrageous MSRP on their watches (2-3-4 grand) and then they end up going for 20% of that on fleabay. Some of their chronos use valjoux movements i think, but i cant speak for this one. For $300, dont think you have made a bad decision, but you could have got a Hamilton for a similar price and similiar complications.

 

[GreazyThumbs]

Not sure about this piece, but GV2 is a relatively new brand born out of a defunct swiss brand (Gevril). So they market themselves as 100+ years history, but its a bit misleading as GV2 is recent.

They have an irritating habit of slapping outrageous MSRP on their watches (2-3-4 grand) and then they end up going for 20% of that on fleabay. Some of their chronos use valjoux movements i think, but i cant speak for this one. For $300, don't think you have made a bad decision, but you could have got a Hamilton for a similar price and similar complications.

I have been doing some more reading since yesterday, and I agree with the inflated msrp. But most true retails online are in the $700ish range, so I feel it is well bought. I also believe it has a Swiss ETA movement, so I am happy about that. I have not been able to find out the actual movement as of yet. I wanted to move into collecting a few automatics for daily use, I have a Movado Valor in tungsten now but I wanted something less dressy.

What Hamilton autos can be had for $300 new?? I would love to find one of those as well. I love alot of thier designs and they seem to have a good following and reputation.

 

[AlbertaTime]

Anyone have an opinion?

I don't know anything about the brand--but I see that almost a day passed with no comment, and I certainly want you to know we're always pleased to have another watch-lover join us! Welcome to WUS! :-!

 

[irishmarc]

Gervil GV2's can be had for some very nice prices. I found the fit & finish to be very good and the display box they send them in are great. Take caution though, if your buying this watch thinking your getting an eta 2824 movement you will be disapointed. Most Gervil's are now using Claro Semag CL-888 movements.

 

[Fritzy]

Hi Jeguzik,

I have the exact same watch as on your picture and it indeed has the Cl888 movement. It's not the most sophisticated movement I've ever seen, but it works quite well. Strange thing is the movement seems to have 21 jewels, while on the rotor it says 18. The movement seems to be of Chinese origin with some Swiss improvements: see the link above or https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=312588&highlight=cl888 .

Otherwise I agree with irishmarc the watch is really well made. The dial is nice and the screw down crown, case and double sapphire are in fact quite nicely done too.

All in all, for $ 300 (or less) it's a great watch (but do forget the msrp's, they're not at all realistic), there's also a version with an ETA 2836 movement (with the date at '3'), that one is quite rare nowadays and probably a bit better value than this one..

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Luke

 

[GreazyThumbs]

Hi Jeguzik,

I have the exact same watch as on your picture and it indeed has the Cl888 movement. It's not the most sophisticated movement I've ever seen, but it works quite well. Strange thing is the movement seems to have 21 jewels, while on the rotor it says 18. The movement seems to be of Chinese origin with some Swiss improvements: see the link above or https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=312588&highlight=cl888 .

Otherwise I agree with irishmarc the watch is really well made. The dial is nice and the screw down crown, case and double sapphire are in fact quite nicely done too.

All in all, for $ 300 (or less) it's a great watch (but do forget the msrp's, they're not at all realistic), there's also a version with an ETA 2836 movement (with the date at '3'), that one is quite rare nowadays and probably a bit better value than this one..

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Luke

Fritzy, the details stated and Gevril confirmed it is a 25 jewel movement, any ideas on what is the ticking heart of my new toy?? I am very confused now, but I would like to know what movement is actually in this watch, thoughts??

 

[leewmeister]

You can find some good general info on Gevril in this old thread:

https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=57726&highlight=gevril

 

[Fritzy]

It is quite confusing, I agree. The fact that GV2 doesn't have it's own website or customer service also doesn't help (I even don't know if they still produce watches nowadays). I also bought one thinking it has an eta movement. Turned out it was the CL888. I returned it, but bought it again as it still is a nice watch. It seems sellers also don't always know the difference.

It seems this model existed in various editions (to maintain a limited edition). I guess they started with ETA movements and now use the CL888 for this watch. The older versions can be found for example on the watchseller website and a non functioning old GV2 website (www.scoopbags.net).

As a rule for this model: if the date window is at 4 o'clock it's a CL888. The eta movements have the date at 3 (as in most watches with this movement). You can also tell it's the CL888 if you look at the rotor, that has a different form than the standard ETA. It also says 18 jewels...

My watch looks exactly the same and has CL888 stamped on the movement. It's really not a bad movement (the only flaw is that it doesn't always sweep as smoothly as most ETA's) and I think $ 300,- is a great price for the watch. I paid a little bit more. I also happen to have the ETA version (2836, 25 jewels) and that does indeed look different from this one.

 

[Master2987]

I owned a GV2 Explorer Day/Date on leather for about a year. It used an ETA 2836 movement. I Paid $370 including shipping...sold it for $250 I believe <|.

I must say the packaging was nice...nicer than various other higher end watches anyway.

The watch itself seemed of good quality and worked very. I never managed to put a scratch or dent on it...the same cannot be said about my Hamiltons.

I sold it due to: a) It was supposed to be a diver, with a screw in crown and all, however WR was only 5ATM. b) A flat crystal made reading time difficult at certain angles and during swimming. c) The dial had no lume, which made the watch useless at night.

 

[Fritzy]

I also had that one, Master2987, and I had the same problems you mention. It was a bit of a strange watch in my opionion, I only liked the movement. Eventually I never wore it ans sold it for about $ 200, a loss of $100-$150.

Jeguzik, your GV2 is in my opinion better, the form and function just match a lot better. If you have a bit more pictures of the watch you bought I'm sure we can find out which movement is ticking inside.

On the first picture, you can see the back of the watch with the date window at 4, that's without a doubt the CL888 (borrowed the picture from the (ok) seller). On the second and third picture the same watch (in the sun, sorry), but with the ETA movement (2836). Notice the day/date window position, rotor form and movement (the ETA is more sophisticated) differ from the cl888 version:

 

[GreazyThumbs]

Jeguzik, your GV2 has is in my opinion better, the form and function just match a lot better. If you have a bit more pictures of the watch you bought I'm sure we can find out which movement is ticking inside.

I will be sure to get some shots of it when it gets here, I am hoping in the next few days or so.

 

[resipsa99]

What Hamilton autos can be had for $300 new?? I would love to find one of those as well. I love alot of thier designs and they seem to have a good following and reputation.

Some of the Khaki models can be had in the $325 range and you can pick up a Jazzmaster Viewmatic for another $100 or so:

http://www.google.com/products?q=hamilton+automatic&oe=utf-8&scoring=p&lnk=pruser&price1=300&price2=

 

[Fritzy]

I will be sure to get some shots of it when it gets here, I am hoping in the next few days or so.

That's fine, let me know! May I also ask where you bought the watch, maybe we can get some info in advance..

 

[GreazyThumbs]

That's fine, let me know! May I also ask where you bought the watch, maybe we can get some info in advance..

I grabbed it on 1saleaday.com a few days back when it was the watch of the day.

 

[Alex_B.]

Only 11 years late