[startngate]

Picked up BOTH of these tonight .... I must be crazy, but they were a package deal.

Gevril First Generation Automatics. Blue on bracelet, grey on black leather strap.

Can't decide which I like better, but one will have to go back.

 

[cb400bill]

Today I saw two of the Gevrils at my local TJ's. They are nice looking watches.
Do you know who makes the movement?

 

[sukispop]

...Do you know who makes the movement?

Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on the net regarding the automatic movements used in the Gevrils. Most sites just list the movement as a "Swiss movement". The Shopathometv.com site lists the ETA 2842-2 as the automatic movement used in the First Generation Automatics.

I liked the silver dial w/strap, myself...nice looking watches! ;-)

 

[KenC]

Gevril is a sweet watch!

 

[Junior]

Can't decide which I like better, but one will have to go back.

I would keep the grey one!:-!

 

[Tragic]

Nice pick up startngate!
Congrats!

 

[jakisbck]

Just so you know those arent the first generations they are more like the after the first generation. They are exceptional watches from what I heard. You do have a winner in either color or both. I would keep both if i could but if I could only have just one then my preference would be the GREY Dial.:-!

 

[startngate]

To answer the question on the movements, both had ETA 2824-2 books in them. Haven't cracked the case to check yet.

I purchased the grey w/ black leather strap for $299 and the blue w/ bracelet for $399 at my local TJ Maxx. List prices on the tags were $1,950 and $2,250.

Don't know how good a deal they were (not red or yellow tagged yet), but I was leaving town and didn't want them to get away while I was gone. Sales person said they had just come in that morning.

Wearing the grey now on my business trip. I'm normally a bracelet guy, but I think I like this one better on the strap.

 

[jakisbck]

I think they are going for $499 at least the last time i saw one.
Great catch and well worth the money spent. I think I wouldve jump on that if seen it myself.:-!

 

[PaulGeo]

Seems like a great buy for that price... I too would keep the gray one. Very classy :-!

 

[cb400bill]

I stopped back to the local TJ's tonight to look more closely at the Gevrils there.

They have a gray and a charcoal model, both on a leather strap. Both were offered at $299. Very nice watches. Substantial and solid feeling timepieces.

Out of my price league right now but I am keeping an eye on these.

 

[Dragoon]

I cant be positive from the pics, which are pretty decent but the lighting makes it a little difficult to tell absolutely, but the model you are referring to as the gray dial may actually be true silver dial which has been hand produced.

Most of the guys here know the story of the 1st generation Gevril pieces, but, the quick and short of it is that Gevril was started as an economy brand for Audemars Piquet. The same Audemars who produces extremely expensive and well made swiss watches such as the "Offshore" and others.

Well, Gevril went for a few years producing these watches which were technologically and quality wise very good but the marketing was not so not enough sold at the astronomical prices they were asking for the company to make money. Audemars sold Gevril to another holding company which in turn sold Gevril to another person or two and finally Sammy (forget the last name) who Tim T referred to a lot purchased the company and the rest is history.

The new ones are still astronomical in price but the older gen I's seem to be a pretty good deal considering their heritage. Only drawback, if it applies, is that they are a little smaller watch than many of todays behemoths.

But, back to the dial.... The dials on the "gray" piece is actually a true silver dial which is hand produced, I believe, with a rose mill using old world methods. The indexes and all graphic is hand applied and it takes a number of days to produce one complete dial.

That is the story on those "gray" dial pieces and certainly you might want to hold onto that one, if you like it. I have a few myself.

To me, the watches look like 1st generation pieces, but, the boxes are not. The 1st gen pieces have the bezels which unscrew. I think they also could be modified with a few different variations on the bezels such as white gold, yellow gold and such, if you can find one. There is also a spacer piece which goes between the bezel and crystal which originally could be purchased as an option in silver, white gold, yellow gold trim levels. Those pieces look like they have those features and is why I believe they are probably true 1st gen pieces.

The original Gevrils came in the now famous Wooden cubes watch boxes. Those cubes are cool. I have one. But, the boxes you received are very nice boxes and certainly do not detract in the least from the whole package.

The bracelet may or may not be true 1st generation as there was a lot of switching of the bracelets on these models. Not sure why, but, that seems to be the situation on the braceletls and 1st gen pieces.

Congrats.

 

[jakisbck]

One other thing that Rob left out was the First Gen. had the screw down crown indicator next to the 3. It was a lil box that showed red or white depending if the crown was screwed in or not. Just a lil side note.

 

[startngate]

After a long week of travelling with the gray one, I actually decided to keep them both. Like the style, and although I normally prefer bracelets to straps, the gray one on the strap just seems more like a dress watch.

Plus, I can always let one go the next time I find something I just can't live without ... I hate my new hobby.

Based on the comments above from Dragoon and jakisback, I would agree that these are not the original first gen's. The gray dial is more of a gunmetal than silver, and there is no screw down crown indicator.

On the plus side for anyone looking, while travelling in Portland I stopped by the TJ Maxx in Vancouver, WA and saw several there. All on the bracelet, several dial choices, and all $399.

 

[jakisbck]

Im glad you like what you've purchased believe it or not I would've done the samething as you ..................purchased the watches and also great deal :-! I cannot vouch for the the grey because I've never seen them in person only on TV when they came out. There was a silver dial like Rob said and a Grey (like but on the darker side) dial as well so, the one you have maybe the same or one of the one Rob was talking about. There were two I would say silver and a grey and i think the silver came with gold numerals sometimes and silver but the grey came with on silver.

 

[designdweeb]

Dragoon, you seem to have a handle on these Gevrils, maybe you can help me with my 'issues.'
I want to like these watches, given their style, design, provenance...
but when I made the grand loop around the TJs, I looked at them closely, and at the case sides I saw a huge gap where the lugs meet -or really don't meet - the fluted edge. From the front, the dial design and the workmanship is so well done, the case to lug juncture seems almost arbitrary by comparison.
Would Audemars design any case in such a way?
I also am confused about the dial choices. Is the silver dial you described in your post the white dial with concentric machining (guilloche?) rings reading as silver inside the outer edge pie pan treatment? This is the closest I have seen to a silver dial, and it reads as white, not silver, under the silver or gold numerals. The grey dial model looks too dark to be silver, if I'm not mistaken.
Do your first generation designs look like this? Or, would this be an indication that these are much later versions of the first generation designs?

Open question for all to add their 2¢:

I am still on the fence post about the Gevril, but for a dress watch, I would see one as a worthy replacement for my Tissot PR50.
The big but is, since I rarely wear a dress watch, should I go for a daily wearer? I'm stalking PVD Daniel Mink with green lume for roughly the same money, $300-$400. Would the Gevril be a better choice in the long run?
I also love the Fortis Spacematics I've seen around, but think they will have repair and parts problems down the road, with their non-standard technology. Am I wrong?
Whadda you guys think? I love your opinions...

 

[Dragoon]

DD..

I do have a soft spot in my collection for Gevrils. Not sure why. I guess I think since they started out under "the umbrella" of audemars and since I will probably never be able to afford and Audemars...that a Gevril is probably my next best choice. I also like their quality, class, and design.

I just got a few of my silver dialed Gevrils out of the "vault" to take a few shots to show the silver dial but think I already have a few images I can post from before.

When I get a chance I am going to take some more images and I have both the Madison Chrono and Madison Time of day versions and will get shots of lugs and construction also.

There is a book on Gevril that was available at one time which I heard about but never saw. It had all types of diagrams, pictures, and was quite a piece of coffee table literature. I do have some first gen literature that came with my 15 degree (GMT) version and will scan some images of that also.

Here are a few pics of one of my silver dial 1st gen pieces. My understanding is the dial is silver and was produced by hand. I dont know if it is actually done using a rose mill (guilloche) but I dont know what other method is available to hand produce a silver dial.

I think they are good deals for $300-$400 which is what I paid for most of mine. You can enlarge these images by clicking in the lower right corner of the thumbnails.

 

[designdweeb]

Thanks, Dragoon, thanks a lot. This helps.
The silver dial seems noticably different than the white dial. I do think that I know what to look for now.
I was blown away in the AP showroom on 57th St. last year, and since then, I have a soft spot for the Gevril, since it's the bastard child of Audemars, these days.
I think I want one, even though I think I won't wear it a lot. I might find the times to wear it -just because I think they have that something, even though I dress so casually, I rarely even wear a tie at this job (and I have a collection of dozens of bow ties, just hanging out)!
My next decision will be to find a silver dial, or settle for a white dial, and the strap or bracelet. They all look good. The bracelet is nice, but the extra hundred bucks is, for me, getting out of the range of a spontaneous purchase... creeping up on my wishlist, and the Swatch Showroom sale is next month, and there's some bills I really oughtta pay, and those strobes that need repairs, and that lighting equipment I wanted ...and ...and ...and...

DD..

I do have a soft spot in my collection for Gevrils. Not sure why. I guess I think since they started out under "the umbrella" of audemars and since I will probably never be able to afford and Audemars...that a Gevril is probably my next best choice. I also like their quality, class, and design.

I just got a few of my silver dialed Gevrils out of the "vault" to take a few shots to show the silver dial but think I already have a few images I can post from before.

When I get a chance I am going to take some more images and I have both the Madison Chrono and Madison Time of day versions and will get shots of lugs and construction also.

There is a book on Gevril that was available at one time which I heard about but never saw. It had all types of diagrams, pictures, and was quite a piece of coffee table literature. I do have some first gen literature that came with my 15 degree (GMT) version and will scan some images of that also.

Here are a few pics of one of my silver dial 1st gen pieces. My understanding is the dial is silver and was produced by hand. I dont know if it is actually done using a rose mill (guilloche) but I dont know what other method is available to hand produce a silver dial.

I think they are good deals for $300-$400 which is what I paid for most of mine. You can enlarge these images by clicking in the lower right corner of the thumbnails.

 

[jakisbck]

Hey Rob those look like the 18k version (i.e. hands and numerals etc.) nice I always wanted one but never pulled the trigger the Grey was my favorite but I guess now it has to wait because my eye is on something else different.

DD..

I do have a soft spot in my collection for Gevrils. Not sure why. I guess I think since they started out under "the umbrella" of audemars and since I will probably never be able to afford and Audemars...that a Gevril is probably my next best choice. I also like their quality, class, and design.

I just got a few of my silver dialed Gevrils out of the "vault" to take a few shots to show the silver dial but think I already have a few images I can post from before.

When I get a chance I am going to take some more images and I have both the Madison Chrono and Madison Time of day versions and will get shots of lugs and construction also.

There is a book on Gevril that was available at one time which I heard about but never saw. It had all types of diagrams, pictures, and was quite a piece of coffee table literature. I do have some first gen literature that came with my 15 degree (GMT) version and will scan some images of that also.

Here are a few pics of one of my silver dial 1st gen pieces. My understanding is the dial is silver and was produced by hand. I dont know if it is actually done using a rose mill (guilloche) but I dont know what other method is available to hand produce a silver dial.

I think they are good deals for $300-$400 which is what I paid for most of mine. You can enlarge these images by clicking in the lower right corner of the thumbnails.