Alpina Genève is a Swiss manufacturer of accessible luxury watches and is an independent company based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1883, we continue to develop highly distinctive and attractive collections with a real sporting pedigree.
WHY ALPINA
The company is involved in all the stages of the production, from initial design through to final assembly. Each watch is assembled by hand and we have invested heavily in state-of-the-art digital machinery for maximum quality. Which means that what you put on your wrist is a genuine luxury product but not at a luxury price.
Each Alpina watch shares a common core, whether it is the limited edition Tourbillons or the Ladies Extreme Regulator Ceramic – they are made to be worn by you whatever you do and wherever you are.
But an Alpina watch is more than that. It is about tradition and heritage, about using age old traditions to make a precious mechanical time piece but bringing in modern technology to guarantee an even higher quality product. It is about knowing that we have been making watches non-stop since 1883.
It is about letting our ambassadors take the watches into the world and use them. It is about listening and bringing to you their ideas and improvements. It is about providing a watch that is good to be seen with and good to use.
It is about taking part in your life.
It is about being a player.
From Alpina company website.
OUR STORY SINCE 1883
Right from the very beginning Alpina has been associated with innovation, and our beginning goes as far back as 1883. Whether it was an innovative way of working or introducing quality criteria to adhere to before anyone else, Alpina has always been looking for ways to improve. This is still true today, where we make great watches to the most exacting standards of haute horology, offering extraordinary value for money.
The story of Alpina starts at the end of the 19th Century when Gottlieb Hauser founded the Swiss Watchmakers Corporation with other independent watchmakers of the region. Initially it was to purchase watch components and to organise the manufacturing but Alpina soon started developing and making our own calibres. In 1901, the name ‘Alpina’ was registered and appeared for the first time, but only on high end watches.
Very soon Alpina was being sold internationally and at our height had nearly 2000 outlets all over the world selling our watches, an exceptional figure for those days. It is no exaggeration to say that Alpina was one of Europe’s leading watchmakers.
Part of the reason for this success, other than the rigorous dedication to design and quality, (values that still hold true today), was the introduction in 1938 of the Alpina 4. The number ‘4’ stood for the 4 core principles that each watch in the series had to have: anti-magnetism, water-resistance, anti-shock and in a stainless steel case.
These principles gave a theme to the watches and can be said to have pointed the way to the development of what was to be the continued success of the company up until the 1970s. It was the so-called ‘Quartz Crisis’ that either sounded the death knell for many companies or meant the creation of major groups.
The emergence of cheap, mass-produced and, above-all, impersonal, watches also nearly meant the end for Alpina. However, despite everything, Alpina hang tough and was revitalized in 2002 and the comeback was on. Working round the clock, a new collection was made ready for the BaselWorld show in 2003, where the models, whilst remaining true to the heritage of Alpina, were, never-the-less, resolutely modern. In 2006, Alpina made one more move in its journey towards the future when we moved to our new, purpose built manufacturing site in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the spiritual homes of watch making.
There are still core elements of the original philosophy that remain:
A dedication to innovation.
A commitment to producing the best watches at the best prices.
A promise to respect the true beneficiary of an Alpina watch, the customer.
A dedication to quality.
And our independence – because we are still independent after all this time.
And like the Alpina 4 there are 4 new guiding principles at the heart of very new watch we design:
• Bold designs
• Iconic looks
• Premium materials with black and red finishing and
• Every watch, without, exception is water-resistant to at least 10 ATM, (with the Diver Extreme going even further being tested and guaranteed to 100 ATM!)
Today, like yesterday, each watch is still assembled in Switzerland by hand by a team of skilled craftsmen and women. However, in our state of the art plant we use only the most modern precision tools to extensively check and control every watch that leaves our Manufacture to offer you the guarantee of maximum quality and durability.
Alpina is once again available all over the world. Fans, collectors and aficionados alike can find their favourite time pieces in over 300 (and growing) selected high end watch retailers throughout the world; (for a full list of where to buy your next Alpina watch, see our website www.alpina-watches.com).
If you are wanting the joy of owning a luxury Swiss-made wrist watch, that adheres to the traditions of great watch-making yet is definitely modern, (and you don’t want to pay a fortune for the privilege), then owing an Alpina Genève watch is your readymade solution.
Please remember that this is an unofficial account of the history of this company, Should you happen to find any mistakes with our information then please let us know at