Few timepieces have the history and heritage that Alpina’s offspring have behind them. Alpina’s CEO, Peter Stas, declares that their aim is to bring back to life Alpina’s historical pilot watches, which used to establish standards in the 1920s and 1930s. As he also relates, the new Alpina Heritage Pilot Watch will be a story by itself.
Besides their new dive watch series planned for 2012, there’s also this resurrection we’re talking about, which will surely shake the world of timekeeping. As we presume and the manufacturers state, it will surely be one of the best creations that Alpina has ever put on market. Their history starts in 1883, the Geneva-based company being born under a different name, with their contemporary appellation having been first used in 1901.
The 50 mm brushed and polished steel case with hinge caseback hides a manual-wind mechanical movement based on Unitas, tied to the forearm via a calfskin leather strap. Upon delivery, they come in beautifully decorated wooden and aluminum vintage gift boxes.
Displaying the time, its hands are leaf-shaped, while the crafters have typed Arabic numerals on the dial to show the hours, plus a railway-like minute track. The huge size of this timepiece has its own extremely important meaning – having been used as a real pilot watch the flying-men should have had clear view of the dial. Furthermore, the 37mm Unitas movement is big as well.
Upon opening the hinged caseback, one can view the intricate movement inside via a sapphire crystal. Besides, the half hunter caseback of the watch is quite rarely seen nowadays, giving the piece more exquisiteness.
The Alpina blog features an interview with Peter Stas, in case you need more info about the timepiece. Note that it comes as a limited edition of 1883 units. A piece of exquisite history won’t hurt to your collection, will it?
[Perpetuelle]
