Little blast from the not too distant past. Looking for that Franck Miller look without being too cheap? This might be the piece for you. Like the Franck Muller Long Island (and watches from other brands before that), the Gevril Avenue of Americas watch collection has a very bold look that is a very appropriate look for the right sort of mature man. This isn’t a watch for kids or people right out of college. The long rectangular case and wild serif font speak to those who have more life experience under their belts.

This is especially true given the classic style triple calendar display on the dial on this specific limited edition model. The Avenue of Americas model is still the mainstay of the Gevril collection, but this Automatic Moon Phase version was made as a limited edition of 500 pieces. While I tend to dig mostly round watches, case shapes like this are interesting. I imagine a guy in a thick suit wearing a watch like this puffing on a cigar – regular ‘fat cat.’ It has a most cartoonish over-the-top quality to it. 

Case size is 34mm wide by 44mm tall – not super large actually. At 52mm tall and over, a design like this could get silly looking, though I think the design could easily still look good at 48-50mm tall. Gevril makes other models like this in 18k gold. Look closely at the dial to notice that it is guilloche machine engraved. Might be hard to tell in this images, but it is. The hour indicators are done in a gold tone. The major draw back of Avenue of Americas watches are the lack of lume on the dial – though they aren’t too tough to read for a non-round dial.

Inside the watch is a base Swiss ETA automatic movement with an annual calendar module. The day and month have dedicated little windows while the date dial surrounds the moon phase indicators. Not a new look, but a layout that continues to be appreciated over time. To be honest, I don’t know of other watches with this exact set of features, so for some people, this might just be “the one.” I recall being particularly interested in Avenue of Americas models a few years back. Now you are luck to even hear of Gevril made watches. By the way, don’t mistake Gevril with “GV2” watches (that are a lower-end break off brand). Avenue of Americas watches can get expensive. Over $20,000 for today’s gold models. Pieces like this are much less despite an original retail price of about $7,000. I has seen them around for $5,000 and under. Also, these triple calendar “Ref. 5035 Automatic Moon Phase” models were limited to 500 pieces. See one of the Gevril Avenue of Americas watches available on James List here.