Alpina Watches

About Alpina

Characterized by the innovative design of the Avalanche Extreme collection, and high quality manufacturing of rugged and durable sport watches, Alpina has a promising future and an impressive past. The company was purchased several years ago by Aletta and Peter Stas, the active and successful founders of Frederique Constant. As a second brand, Alpina provides a very sensible addition to the stable with respect to its models and design, but a quick perusal of the two collections makes it easy to see that they complement each other perfectly without infringing on each other's core clientele.

Looking at the very contemporary visuals of modern-day Alpina products, it is hard to believe that it is actually a brand rooted in Switzerland's extensive watchmaking history.

Watchmaker Gottlieb Hauser, hailing from Switzerland's Winterthur, discovering that a group was far more effective than an individual, founded the Swiss Watchmaker Corporation (Schweizerische Uhrmacher Corporation) in 1883. This group had the joint goal of purchasing watch components to get better prices and distributing finished products together as a group in order to be able to market them more successfully. The concept quickly found recognition, 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.

From 1890, the group was headquartered in the watch metropolis of Biel. Right from the beginning, its products were outfitted only with 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, the successful cooperative, now called Alpina Union Horlogere, in 1909 founded the Pracisions-Uhrenfabrik Alpina in Glashutte and from then on sustained production workshops in Geneva, Biel, Besancon, and Glashutte. After World War II the name Alpina could no longer be used in Germany by order of the Allies, so Dugena (Deutsche Uhrmacher-Genossenschaft Alpina) was created.

Alpina's current collection rides the wind created by its popular Avalanche line, and rightly so. This reasonably priced timekeeper not only has 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, and this is no wonder: the attractive off-center positions of the dial's displays mesh extremely well with the case in its black PVD incarnation. The bezel can be purchased in any number of versions: black, rose gold plate, and even diamond-set, which sells especially well in the United States. Caliber AL-650 is based on a hand-wound ETA Unitas movement, which the factory's head watchmaker Pim Koeslag has modified to accommodate the interesting displays. Like his boss -Peter Stas- Koeslag is also a Dutchman living in Geneva. And hopefully these adaptive modifications are an inkling of what he still has to offer the Swiss watchmaking industry - as well as Alpina products and sister brand Frederique Constant - in ther near future.