While Frederique Constant has a clear classical, elegant and refined vocation, the other branch of the group, Alpina, is much more oriented on heritage and sports watches. Once again, the motto is the same: accessibility, value for money, very decent quality and functionality – but in another style category. The main collection of Alpina, the Alpiner, was mainly focussing on Chronographs and vintage-oriented pieces until now. This year, the brands adds two references in the catalogue, two robust sports watches, the Alpina Alpiner 4 Automatic and the Alpina Alpiner 4 Automatic GMT Business Timer.
The Alpina Alpiner 4, the concept of four
The rotating bezel is not carrying the same 60-minute scale as the Automatic version but instead is graduated from 0 to 36. Weird at first, it is actually a 360 degrees bezel. The functions of the watch are quite pleasant, with an hour hand that can be adjusted by one-hour increments (the central hour hand, which tracks the local time) and the GMT hand tracks the home time. The Alpina AL-550 “Jumping Hour” GMT movement shares the same as the automatic (26 jewels, 38h power reserve, 4Hz frequency). The Alpina Alpiner 4 Automatic GMT Business Timer also fulfills the concept of 4, with 100m water resistance and resistance to magnetic fields up to 4,800 A/m. it will be available in 2 dial colors – white and black – for a price of 1,850 Swiss Francs (inc. taxes) – can be purchased online here.
Specifications of the Alpina Alpiner 4 Automatic and Alpina Alpiner 4 Automatic GMT Business Timer
- Case: 44mm diameter – stainless steel, brushed and polished – sapphire crystal on front, plain caseback – 100m water resistant
- Movement: Calibre AL-525 (automatic) AL-550 (GMT), based on Sellita SW-200 – automatic winding – power reserve of 38 hours – hours, minutes, seconds, date (automatic) – hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT (automatic GMT)
- Strap: leather strap with red lining
[source from: https://monochrome-watches.com/alpina-alpiner-4-automatic-gmt-price/]