Alpina Luxury Wristwatches

Alpina – Company History

Looking at the very contemporary visuals of modern-day Alpina, it is hard to believe that this is actually a brand rooted in Switzerland’s extensive watchmaking history. In 1883 watchmaker Gottlieb Hauser, hailing from Switzerland’s Winterthur discovered that a group was far more effective than an individual and proceeded to found the Swiss Watchmaker Corporation (Schweizerische Uhrmacher-Corporation). This group had the joint goal of purchasing watch components collectively to get better prices and distributing finished products as a group in order to market them more successfully. The concept quickly showed its merit, and within just a short time numerous watchmakers had joined the cooperative. Together with qualified manufacturers, they began to develop their own calibers. Already in 1896 Alpina was registered as a trademark for movements and cases, and in 1901 it was introduced as a trade brand name. Starting in 1890, the group had headquarters in the watch metropolis of Biel. Right from the beginning, its products were outfitted with only high-quality components such as Breguet balance springs, balances fitted with gold screws, and heavy gold cases.

In order to win over some German watchmakers, in 1909 the successful cooperative, at the time called Alpina Union Horlogére, founded the Präcisions-Uhrenfabrik Alpina in GlashUtte and from then on sustained production workshops in Geneva, Biel, Besançon, and Glashutte. After World War lithe name Alpina could no longer be used in Germany by order of the Allies, so Dugena (Deutsche Uhrmacher-Genossenschaft Alpina) was formed.

Alpina’s Current Collection

Alpina’s current collection rides the wind created by its popular Avalanche line, and rightly so-This reasonably priced timekeeper not only offers the right price to attract a broader clientele, it also sports the right look to appeal to men of practically any age thanks to dynamic design and stately case dimensions. The Avalanche Extreme Regulator has revealed itself as the true leader of this line with the attractive off-center positions of the dials displays meshing extremely well with the case in its black
PVD incarnation. The bezel can be purchased in any number of styles: black, rose gold plate, and even set with diamonds. Caliber AL-650 is based on a modified hand-wound ETA Unitas movement, which the factory’s head watchmaker Pim Koeslag, has modified to accommodate the interesting displays.

In celebration of the brands 125th anniversary, Alpina is paying homage to its great past as a watch manufacture by using the know-how garnered in the development of Frédérique Constant’s manufacture movement to bring forth Alpinas first manufacture movement of the modern era: the 31 mm Caliber AL-950 with date. The automatic winding mechanism incorporates what used to be Alpinas signature rotor, which the company sees as a salute to the designers of Alpina’s first automatic movement from 1945, Caliber 582.

From the outside, the Alpina Manufacture Regulator looks a great deal like the Extreme model that has helped restore the brand’s horological reputation in the last two years. It has, however been resized—bringing it down from the Extreme’s lavish 48 mm to a more manageable 46 mm. The bold, elaborate dial design has been retained, however and is perhaps even more audacious than ever before.

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