First Look: The echo/neutra & Ace Jewelers Averau 39 Moon Phase Noctilum

Collaboration watches are an incredibly difficult thing to pull off well. It’s not that they have a tendency to turn out bad — far from it — but they have been known to be… a bit underwhelming. Or maybe even overwhelming. The two whelmings happen when the two brands working together don’t put enough effort, resulting in a “meh” reaction; or, when the two brands working together put too much effort into the collaboration, resulting in an absolute mess. Well, the good news is that I have learned over the years that any collaboration that Ace Jewlers and its head Alon Ben Joseph work on will result in the perfect middle between the two extremes, a well designed watch. This is exactly what we have with the new echo/neutra & Ace Jewelers Averau 39 Moon Phase Noctilum.

So, who are the two collaborating sides we have here? On one side, we have echo/neutra, an Italian indie watch brand that has been causing quite the stir lately. Founded by Nicola Callegaro and Cristiano Quaglia, the brand has made a number of pretty great sports watches. All of their releases so far stand as a testament that Callegaro and Quaglia have a broad and deep knowledge of the history of industrial design and architecture, and are clearly influenced by the Dolomite mountains that are near their headquarters in Piove di Sacco, just outside of Padua.

And it makes sense that these are their influences. Nicola has been a product designer for nearly 20 years, while Christiano is an aerospace engineer. But their architectural and product design influence is perhaps most evident in last big release, the echo/neutra Rivanera, which takes on a pretty radically different square shape.

On the other side we have Ace Jewelers, founded in 1975 by the Ben Joseph family. They are known for being one of the early adopters of e-commerce, opening up online ordering of watches in 2008. The company is now lead by the brothers Alon and Amir Ben Joseph and have over the years become one of the best places to get a watch from an independent brand. Alon is also part of the Real Time Show podcast, which is THE watch education you need. The podcast team brings in every single person you should know in this industry, and get them to spill their guts. In the podcast you can hear Alon’s passion for watches, which has obviously resulted in the many, many collaborations that Ace has done over the years. And it’s these collaborations that have introduced me, and a lot of other watch fans, to brands we haven’t known about before. They made me fall in love with Christiaan van der Klaauw, opened my eyes to the beauty of Elka dials and convinced me that the new Sherpa watches are truly marvelous.

So, since I am a fan of both of the brands, it comes as little surprise that I liked the Averau 39 Moon Phase Noctilum even before I saw it, just from what Alon told me. The watch is based on the existing Averau 39 Moon Phase which is already a cool watch. It takes a basic field-watch case, with a rather simple construction, even a field-watch-like dial, and pairs it with a pretty cool dual moon-phase complication at 6 o’clock. echo/neutra has been making these moonphase watches for a while and each is better than the last.

The collaboration was born when Dale Bloom, a long-time team member at Ace and now a freelance agent, discovered echo/neutra while exploring the depths of the Instagram watch world. The Averau Moon Phase, in particular, caught his attention—offering a unique combination of classic military watch aesthetics with a moon phase complication, making it an ideal companion for outdoor adventures. Intrigued by the brand’s vision, Dale shared his discovery with Alon and a plan was hatched. They would keep the rugged case of the Averau and combine it with a few cool touches from the Ace team.

By keeping the outside the same, things remain very familiar. The stainless steel case measures 39mm wide, 13.5mm thick and has a 46mm lug-to-lug. Now, the 39mm width might sound a bit daunting, but the 46mm lug-to-lug takes care of it, with it fitting easily on the vast majority of cases. On top is a domed sapphire crystal and the case has a combination of brushed flat surfaces with highly polished facets. Something that is only visible on video or while handling it live is how well the combination of brushed and polished surfaces on the bezel works, creating quite a cool interplay of light. Out back you get the familiar caseback with an engraved mountaintop, with the words “Ace Jewelers Limited Edition” engraved underneath. Water resistance is exactly what you would want it to be at 100 meters.

Then, we have the dial where all the changes have been made. And most of the changes include removing stuff to make for a cleaner experience. The Arabic numerals at the base of the hour markers have been removed, allowing for a cleaner, more refined dial aesthetic. The hour markers at the cardinal points (12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock) now feature an inverted luminous design, where the outer rim is luminescent while the inner portion is blacked-out. This same treatment extends to the hands, ensuring optimal readability in low-light conditions. Unlike the standard production model, the seconds hand is also fully lumed, offering an added layer of visibility. Additionally, the moon phase disc has been reimagined with generous lume application, moving away from the photorealistic depiction of the moon in favor of a more minimalistic, modern interpretation.

Nothing, of course, has changed on the inside. Which is a good thing. The movement is the Sellita SW280, which is a moonphase equipped Sellita SW200 base. This, in turn, is a continuation of the ETA 2824, which means it’s a simple movement that is well known to service centers and with plenty of parts easily accessible. However, it’s also known as a pretty bulletproof movement, so there won’t be a lot of need for service. This particular SW280 comes in its elaboré grade, which is a step above from the basic grade. This means it beats at 4Hz, has a 40 hour power reserve and some basic decorations, not that it matters. The watch comes on a black fabric strap, with an option of a black water buffalo leather strap or a three link steel bracelet.

The new echo/neutra & Ace Jewelers Averau 39 Moon Phase Noctilum is limited to 100 pieces and available now from Ace Jewelers or echo/neutra. Price is set at €890 on the fabric strap, €930 on leather and €960 on bracelet.

-Vuk