Alpina

Alpina

Alpina Watches is a Swiss watch brand. Alpina was founded in 1883 and since 2002 is owned by the watch company Frederique Constant. Alpina started its “4” sports watches collection in 1938, with (at that time) innovative features such as anti-magnetism, anti-shock, water resistance.

History

Gottleib Hauser was an independent watch maker in Switzerland who was finding it very hard to source parts and materials for his watches. After a few years of hard work he had an idea, to create a union of members all being fellow watchmakers in Switzerland who could then share parts, materials and ideas collectively. This was when he founded the “Alpina Swiss Watchmakers Corporation”. This united the foremost independent Swiss watchmakers who then became know as the “Alpinists”.

They were initially developed to optimise and develop the manufacturing of timepiece movements and the timepieces themselves through cooperation between the manufacturers and suppliers, but Alpina soon started developing calibres and chronometers and producing them completely in-house.

Jacob Straub decided that there was some extremely innovative technology within Alpina which was being used by many watch manufacturers. Rumours say that they even made watch movements for Rolex at one point in the rectangular baguette watches but asked for them to be stamped as Rolex and not Alpina. After he registered the 12 and 19 line calibers almost all of the high end watches then carried the Alpina triangle mark on their movements. It was used to distinguish exceptional quality and precision.

In 1901, The Alpina union celebrated its 25th Anniversary and the trademark “Alpina” was registered and appeared for the first time on high-end calibres and watches produced by Gottlieb Hauser. When the Alpina brand and trademark was born they also needed a distinctive symbol that could encompass the brand and this is when the Alpina red triangle emblem was created.

Links

• Switzerland
• Main Page
• History of Watches

Credits - https://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk/blog/2017/02/alpina-watches/