Since 1883, the contribution of Alpina to the Swiss watchmaking industry has been in the innovation of caliber and watch production methods and organisation. It can be rightly said that the “Alpina Union Horlogère”, whose members were called “Alpinists”, was the ancestor of today’s modern Swiss watch groups. With the creation of the legendary “Alpina 4” in 1938, Alpina invented the modern sports watch by defining and uniting in one watch the four necessary criteria – which still apply to this day – for a watch to be called a sports watch. Since 1183, Alpina has conceived and manufactured its own movements and chronometers in-house. The famous 877, 582, 592 movements, just to name a few, today have their modern counterparts in the Alpina AL-980 Tourbillon, AL-950 Automatic Regulator, AL-718 WorldTimer and the AL-710 Small Date manifacture movements. Alpina’s mission today, just as it was 130 years ago, is to manufacture extremely reliable, professional sports watches that embody the legacy of their visionary founder, Gottlieb Hauser.
Alpina 130 Heritage Pilot Chronograph
It is an Alpina tradition to celebrate every decade of existence with a commemorative timepiece. Remaining loyal to this tradition, Alpina celebrates its 130th anniversary with the Alpina 130, an automatic “Bi-compax” chronograph, inspired by an iconic Alpina pilot chronograph design from the beginning of the 20th century. While the design of this watch was inspired by the past, the Alpina 130 is resolutely contemporary in both its elegant design and technical conception.
The Alpina 130 features a “Glass Box” sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. This complex crystal construction, as well as its perfect integration with the stainless steel or gold-plated case, gives the watch both an elegant and robust appearance, and guarantees perfect contrast between all elements of the dial, regardless of the angle of the light shining on the watch.
The classic dial design, with Telemeter and Tachymeter scales provides a perfect balance between technicality, elegance and readability, which is the signature of every Alpina professional aviation watch. To please true watchmaking enthusiasts, the AL-860 automatic chronograph calibre, with its fine fish scales decoration and blue screws, can be admired through the transparent case back of the Alpina 130.
The dial of the Alpina 130 is not only perfectly balanced in design, but also provides the functionality so essential to the gentleman in the cockpit. The Tachymeter scale gives the means to measure average speed of movement, while the Telemeter scale provides the distance between the source of a specific sound effect and the position of the listener.
These functions are particularly important for pilots and drivers who rely on time, speed and distance variables. The “Bi-compax” layout of the chronograph counters, powered by the AL-860 Alpina caliber, complete the professional features of the Alpina 130 by providing optimal readability of the information found on the dial.
(Photo credit: courtesy of Alpina Watches)
Gaetano C. @Horbiter®
