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.

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Manufacture Regulator Watch! $4,450.00

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Regulator PVD Diamond Watch! $3,395.00

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Regulator Men’s Diamond Watch! $3,395.00

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Regulator Mens Diamond Watch! $2,995.00

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Manufacture Regulator Watch! $2,495.00

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Manufacture Regulator Watch! $2,495.00

Alpina Extreme Diver Men’s Black PVD Watch! Diver’s $2,295.00

ALPINA AL-350LBBS4A6 AVALANCHE MENS WATCH $2,240.00

ALPINA AVALANCHE EXTREME DIVER 1000M AUTO MENS WATCH $1,800.00

Alpina Avalanche Extreme Regulator RGP Men’s Watch! NEW $1,795.00

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Orbita Quattro Chronographer Executive Watch Winder

Orbita Watch Winders For Watch Connoisseurs

Watch winders are a fast-growing market segment, and the reason behind this is a simple one: watch connoisseurs have discovered that an attractive, easy-to-use little machine can keep a collection of mechanical treasures ticking all the time. Gone are the days of having to reset a calendar watch after the weekend—the handy winder can now take over that function. Additionally, they make for attractive pieces of furniture. Commencing operations in 1996, Orbita Corporation was founded by Charles Agnoff at a time when watch winders were still pretty much an unknown species. Orbita’s reputation has grown through the years due to both the extreme reliability of the companys products and the diverse palette of winders, boxes, and patents that Agnoff has introduced to the market- Beyond the original, utilitarian single winders, Orbita now offers artisan winder boxes, winders for manually wound watches, and beautiful pieces of furniture for storage and winding in addition to other specialties.

Orbita Innovation

Agnoff never stops thinking about how to improve his products, and thus his attention recently turned to batteries—a staple for an effective watch winder. In virtually every industry where the use of lithium batteries—meaning a disposable battery containing lithium metal or lithium compounds, which can produce about twice the voltage of an ordinary zinc-carbon or alkaline cell—was being explored, their full potential was somewhat reduced by the need for these batteries to be fully rechargeable. Some design compromises had to be made to accommodate the end user’s need for quick recharging cycles, which could unfortunately result in high current flow into the battery and possible overheating. Nonetheless, the inherent advantages of lithium batteries have seen them come into their own as practical, albeit expensive, power sources for myriad applications in commerce and industry. New, non-rechargeable lithium batteries possess the highest energy capability of any known battery design; however they are only suitable for applications with minimal current draw. Agnoff realized that the extremely low battery drain properties of the Swiss-designed ironless core motors he employs in his company’s winders were perfectly matched for use with these superb batteries. ‘We decided to partner’ with a well-known lithium battery manufacturer and worked with them to develop a suitably sized D cell configuration that met our special watch winder needs,’ Agnoff reports.

Orbita Proprietary Engineering

The proprietary design of Orbita’s lithium batteries actually provides an output voltage of 3.6 volts, 240 percent higher than the 1.5 volts obtainable from normal alkaline batteries. Of course, that higher voltage necessitated a number of changes in Orbita’s watch winder circuitry, but, by coupling two of these batteries in parallel, the company was able to achieve a power source exhibiting more than ten times the battery life of the original winders powered with alkaline batteries. ‘We knew this would keep our watch collector customers happy, and so, at that point, we decided to supply factory-installed lithium batteries on all of our Sparta watch winders, the jovial Agnoff continues. ‘Now we happily offer a five-year battery service life guarantee on any winders so equipped. These lihthium batteries are installed at our factory and will require no attention for at least five years, and probably several years more.’ When these batteries are finally depleted, easy-to-install replacements are readily available from Orbita.

Orbita Avanti 12 Automatic Watch Winder – W22031 $10,399.00

Orbita Avanti 6 Automatic Watch Winder – Model W70001 $3,995.95

Orbita Wall Safe Automatic Watch Winder – Model W21700 $3,995.95

Orbita Avanti 3 Automatic Watch Winder – Model W70000 $2,295.00

Orbita In-Safe 6 Automatic Watch Winder – Model W21600 $2,295.00

Orbita Sempre Single Automatic Watch Winder – W31001 $2,255.95

Orbita In-Safe 4 Automatic Watch Winder- W21500 $1,695.00

Orbita Siena 3 Watch Winder Programmable Duel Powered $1,539.95

NEW Orbita Tourbillion Single Automatic Watch Winder $799.95

Orbita Sparta Executive Double Automatic Watch Winder - $795.95

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Urwerk Satellite Display Luxury Wristwatches

Urwerk – Developing Contemporary Timepieces

We started with a blank piece of paper. Dropped all our preconceptions. And decided to create a time machine, Our philosophy was to take ideas from the past and reshape them for contemporary living. Allow these ideas to arouse emotions that would not just look good, but also bring a bit of the stargazer and adventurer back into our interior consciousness,” master watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and designer Martin Frei, the two creative heads making up Urwerk, say of their ideals. This brand’s name, Urwerk, is something perhaps only German speakers can fully understand. It is a play on words, but one that fits the outlook of this company very well. Werk is easy to describe; it means a watch movement. Ur, however is tricky: as a prefix it denotes something like the source, the beginning, or the essential. The word Uhr, however, is pronounced exactly the same way and means “watch” or ‘clock—and is usually the word to precede Werk (combined, this compound word means “movement’).

Stunning Urwerk Wristwatches

Urwerk’s timepieces are nothing short of breathtaking. Baumgartner’s calibers have so far included the premise of a ‘control board’ on the back, which includes the power reserve display illustrating how many hours are left in the manually wound movement as well as two overlapping gauges at the center comprising the chronometer window—a very helpful function for setting the time to the exact second, especially since these are not displayed on the front of the watch. The little screw in the lower right-hand corner is the fine-tuning index, which for the first time gives the wearer the opportunity to regulate his or her own watch—forward or backward to a maximum of 30 seconds in a 24- hour period.

The front of these watches is no less stunning, though. Baumgartner explains that the principal technical challenge was ensuring good isochronal performance of his satellites while reducing friction and loss of energy. This is no simple task as the satellite complication weighs 160 times more than traditional hands do. Thus, Baumgartner chose high-tech materials to minimize mass, maximizing his horological creations chronometric efficiency.

Urwerk Watch Models

The four hour satellites of the UR-103 model, each of which completes a full revolution every four hours, are thus are crafted in aluminum and suspended underneath a grade 2 titanium orbital cross. The complication is mounted on a nonmagnetic Arcap P40 base plate providing superior strength and stability as compared with traditional metals. Model UR-202 boasts ‘telescopic,’or variable-length, minute hands that extend from the revolving hour satellites, thus enabling a more precise display of the minutes. ‘Horology is in my blood; I am the son and grandson of watchmakers,’ Baumgartner says of his background. “The first musical concert I remember was played by the more than fifty clocks tick-tocking in his workshop in our home. I was a watchmaker by birth, and am now a watchmaker by passion.’ Proving the point, though it may be hard to believe, Urwerk’s timepieces are truly based in traditional watchmaking, but they also represent things yet to come.  Urwerk’s limited-production, handmade watches are for the serious individualist.

URWERK 103.09 RG – MINT CONDITION – MEMBER IWJG $38,995.00

URWERK POWER RESERVE 103.07 in WHITE GOLD LNIB $32,500.00

URWERK 103.03 in ROSE GOLD LNIB $30,000.00

ALIEN ON MY MIND – Same CD Rare 97 1.pr URWERK $36.99

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Chronoswiss Chronograph Wristwatches

Chronoswiss Timepieces – A Life Long Dream

Gerd-Rudiger Lang fulfilled a lifelong dream for himself when he finally built a generous factory for his brand on the outskirts of Munich. After this company’s modest beginnings in the basement of Lang’s family home there, he moved to rented premises on Elly-Staegmeyr-Strasse. Thanks to a stupendous period of growth that has lasted twenty years, the ‘man with the tick’ finally reached his most important finish line. Building this watch factory is akin to signing the ‘generational contract” for his family Lang and his daughter Natalie, the two managing directors, have their corner offices on the second floor across from each other. Both—father and daughter—have direct access to the company’s watchmaker workshops, and here, ideas and plans conceived by the lead duo are translated into watches. The production department has twelve workspaces where watchmakers assemble components delivered from Switzerland—completely in the tradition of the company—to make a ticking whole. The watchmaker workshops—both production and service—are not only outfitted with large windows on the outside walls to let light in, the walls separating the workshops also have large windows to let visitors observe the watchmakers at work without disturbing them.

With the factory now fully functional for more than a year, it was time for Lang’s creativejuices to begin flowing again—and this finds precise form in the brand’s latest creation, Zeitzeichen (German for “‘sign of the times”).

Chronoswiss Zeitzeichen – Landmark Timepieces

“The spirit of the Zeitzeichen series is truly unique,’ explains Hartmut Kraft, president of Chronoswiss’s new U.S. subsidiary. “Chronoswiss is teaming up with the best artisans in the industry to create landmark pieces that unite and embody the arts and crafts of centuries of watchmaking tradition. Instead of desperately seeking new ways to recreate something that has been around for a long time, Chronoswiss is taking a look back and bethinks itself of the true values of refining the various components of a mechanical wristwatch.”

The refining in this first series of Zeitzeichen models is done by master engraver, guillocheur, and skeletonizer Jochen Benzinger, an independent artisan who has earned the reputation of being one of the best in the world at the rare crafts he practices. His skeletonization work, which can also be described as the art of reducing a component or a movement to its bare minimum, lends a transparent, airy look. Benzinger generally combines this in his own unique way with engraving and guilloché to make the movement extremely decorative.

“The fact that they are highly collectible pieces limited to only thirty-three watches worldwide for each edition might be reason enough [for these wristwatches to find their own special niche],’ Kraft continues. ‘However there is also the irreplaceable luxury to muse over the entirely handcrafted intricacies of a Chronoswiss Zeitzeichen that is reserved for the very few that can afford the time to do so.”

The Chronoswiss Zeitzeichen models kick off an annual series with Benzinger Timepieces completed in conjunction with other artisans are scheduled to follow in the years to come.

CHRONOSWISS PATHOS 18k ROSE GOLD SKELETON CHRONOGRAPH $9,500.00

Chronoswiss Grand Opus Skeleton Chronograph SS Watch $7,290.00

Chronoswiss Opus Skeleton Chronograph SS $11,250 NIB $5,900.00

Chronoswiss Tora Chronograph Automatic Wrist Watch $5,750.00

Chronoswiss Opus Skeleton Chronograph SS Watch $5,695.00

CHRONOSWISS KLASSIK CHRONOGRAPH 18K GOLD $13,800 LIST $4,999.99

Chronoswiss Opus Skeleton Chronograph Mens Watch $4,995.00

Chronoswiss Rattrapante Chronograph Automatic CH7323 $4,644.00

Chronoswiss Opus Skeleton Chronograph Steel Watch $4,250.00

NIB Chronoswiss Lunar Chronograph CH7522L COMPLETE! $4,090.00

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