Hands-On With The Brand-New AVI-8 CVRT 3775A Automatic
Sometimes, all you need to know is right there in the name. AVI-8, pronounced “Aviate,” leaves little question about the brand’s mission and inspiration. You might know the company for its highly affordable and highly specced pilot’s watches inspired by specific combat airplanes, such as the Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, or Bell X1. Today, though, I get to experience an AVI-8 watch that isn’t the horological embodiment of a historic aircraft. Instead, the AVI-8 CVRT 3775A Automatic aims to form a cornerstone for the brand as a tactically inspired everyday tool watch.
Our friends over at Worn & Wound debuted their Worn & Wound Creative Services branch on this watch, providing the concept and design for this new model. That’s enough to pique my interest, so let’s see what’s what.
The new AVI-8 CVRT 3775A in context
Interestingly, the new AVI-8 CVRT 3775A isn’t a pure pilot’s watch per se. The press materials describe it as a field watch, which resonates with my experience of it. However, the design certainly invokes some military-aviation notions too. I could see this on the wrist of modern fighter pilots or worn in the cockpit of a Lockheed SR071 Blackbird.
AVI-8 specifically asked Worn & Wound Creative Services to seek out a gap in the market and design an AVI-8 watch for it. To then come up with a non-pilot’s watch is daring, to say the least. However, you can see there have been experts at work, maintaining the military and aviation DNA while pushing the brand into uncharted territory. In a sense, that is precisely why you would call on outside help — to push you out of your comfort zone.
The new CVRT stands out in other ways as well. For instance, it looks extremely restrained for an AVI-8 creation. If you follow the brand, you know that “minimalism” isn’t in its vocabulary. Most AVI-8 watches are rather elaborate, featuring tons of details and design cues referencing historical aircraft. This new CVRT is atypically clean and simple. As a result, I expect it to speak to a potentially much broader audience.
AVI-8 CVRT 3775A specifications
Before I continue with my experience with the latest AVI-8 CVRT 3775A, let’s take a quick look at its technical specifications. “CVRT” stands for “covert,” which the subdued styling and color scheme reflect, while “3775” represents the 37.75mm case diameter. Paired with a 46mm lug-to-lug and an 11mm thickness, that should make for a proper crowd-pleaser. The stainless steel case comes with a scratch-resistant hard coating and a blacked-out knurled bezel frame.
Inside ticks the familiar Miyota 9015 automatic caliber. It achieves 42 hours of autonomy from a full wind and ticks at 28,800 vibrations per hour. It features all the prerequisite stuff — manual winding, hacking seconds, and a date indicator (on this dial, at 4:30). The one thing lacking from this reliable workhorse movement is looks, but the all-steel case back takes care of that.
The AVI-8 CVRT 3775A comes with two straps. The first, and my favorite, is a neatly integrated rubber strap with quick-release pins. It fills out the entire gap between the lugs and the case and steps out at the lug tips, continuing the flow of the case. The second is a more traditional NATO-style nylon strap. In keeping with the covert theme, both straps are black.
Subtle but notable details
As mentioned before, the AVI-8 CVRT 3775A dials lack the heavy detail work of earlier AVI-8 models. Still, you get plenty to enjoy once you look closer. The case, for instance, is much more intricate than you might grasp at first glance. It tapers down towards the case back, resulting in a flatter appearance on the wrist. AVI-8 applies burshing to the top surfaces, with polished chamfers and bead-blasted case flanks. Paired with the black, knurled bezel, it all looks quite fancy.
Meanwhile, the dial looks neat and functional. Matte black in appearance, it serves up great legibility with the applied white markers. Those markers, by the way, come with a thick coating of Super-LumiNova all around, making them look like solid lume blocks. The slender handset pulls the watch into slightly more elegant territory without compromising legibility.
A raised minute track completes the dial. Here, we find my one gripe, as each section is divided into five. With a 4Hz frequency, the seconds hand makes four jumps per second, over a five-per-second scale. Now, this has absolutely no impact on daily use for most people, but it would be nice to see the scale matched to the movement’s pace.
Wearing the AVI-8 CVRT 3775A
I have to say that wearing the CVRT 3775A was a very pleasurable experience. AVI-8 absolutely nailed the ergonomics and stance on the wrist. The case wraps around the forearm, while the rubber strap amplifies the smoothness of the entire package.
I found the AVI-8 CVRT 3775A to look and feel significantly more expensive than the €398.95 / US$450 / £421 price suggests. The watch feels solid and reliable, while the aforementioned details provide enough visual interest to keep you engaged.
Naturally, the look is very clearly tactical, so everyday wearability is somewhat limited to purely casual attire and occasions. Still, you wouldn’t expect otherwise from an AVI-8 watch named “Covert,” right? All in all, I think Worn & Wound Creative Services did a great job pushing AVI-8 into new territory. And AVI-8, in turn, nailed the execution. In my opinion, you will be hard-pressed to find a better tactical-looking field watch under €400.
What do you think of the new AVI-8 CVRT 3775A Automatic? Let us know in the comments section below!
