Putting The Spotlight On The Best Modern Alpina Watches

Alpina has been on a roll lately. The Swiss watchmaker has been busy updating its collection with some great new models. While most of you will probably know the brand’s sports pieces, we have also seen some great watches inspired by its past, which goes back more than a century. Indeed, Alpina is a brand with multiple great stories to tell. It’s time to put the spotlight on the five best watches from the collection that show the great diversity Alpina offers these days. And keep an eye out for something new on Fratello later this week!

If you ask most watch fans about Alpina, they’ll probably tell you about its sports watches. The brand has created a large collection of them with a reputation for being great, rugged tools, especially the Alpiner and Seastrong collections. However, a rich history inspires the Heritage and Startimer collections, in which we find some amazing watches taking after classics from Alpina’s archives. Let’s explore some of the best Alpina options today.

Alpina Heritage Carrée Automatic 140 Years

One of Alpina’s biggest recent successes is the Heritage Carrée Automatic 140 Years, which celebrates the brand’s long history in style. As Thomas explained, before this watch, Alpina released the very limited Alpiner Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years. It was a popular LE that used original rare calibers from 1938. This Heritage Carrée Automatic 140 Years is the follow-up that celebrates the same classic style and combines it with a modern automatic movement. This duo of watches looks amazing, and either version would be a great pick if you are looking for the classic style that made brands like Cartier so popular.

The Heritage Carrée Automatic 140 Years comes with a handsome black or silver dial. Both variants utilize the same 32.5mm × 39mm × 9.71mm case that is substantial but not too big. This beautifully sculpted two-piece case features sapphire crystals on the front and the back and is water resistant to 3 ATM. The silver-dial version has a stylish two-tone execution with black printing and rectangular small seconds, while the black-dial version features beige printing and a round sub-seconds register. Inside the case, you will find Alpina’s AL-530 caliber, which is based on the Sellita SW261. This movement operates at 28,800vph and offers a 38-hour power reserve. Finishing off the look is a brown ostrich strap that gives these models even more charm. At €1,695, the Heritage Carrée Automatic 140 Years is a great opener for this list.

Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic

Our next pick is the popular Alpiner Extreme Automatic. Alpina offers this watch in multiple sizes, and we opted for the 39mm version, which came out in late 2024. The watch has the same aesthetic as its bigger brother but combines it with a smaller case.

The current Alpiner collection debuted in 2022 and presented a modern, sturdy series of watches with a lot of wrist presence. While the model we chose is 2mm smaller, it still makes quite a big aesthetic impact. This watch has a stainless steel case that measures 39mm in diameter, 46mm from lug to lug, and 11.5mm thick.

The case is combined with either a beige, blue, or green dial. All of them feature the technical-looking triangular pattern that gives the watches their character. The dials also feature large luminous hours markers and a date window at 3 o’clock. Alpina pairs the case with either an integrated rubber strap or a stainless steel H-link bracelet. The rubber straps are very nicely integrated and super comfortable, while the stainless steel bracelet is solid and gives the watch an even more rugged feel.

Inside the 200m-water-resistant case, you will find the brand’s automatic AL-525 caliber.  This Sellita SW200-based automatic movement operates at 28,800vph and offers 38 hours of power reserve. You can see the movement through the case back’s sapphire display window, which gives you a good view of the custom black rotor. At €1,695 on the rubber strap and €1,995 on the bracelet, the 39mm Alpiner Extreme Automatic is Alpina’s go-to modern sports watch that works well in its smaller size.

Alpina Heritage Automatic

Our third pick is another duo of watches. Alpina surprised us with two beautiful versions of the Heritage Automatic during Geneva Watch Days last year. The watches were met with lots of praise because of their great vintage charm. We love them too, and it’s even hard to choose between them because they have distinct styles. But let’s start at the beginning. The design of these two watches was inspired by Alpina models from the 1920s and 1940s. These models feature the same straight-lugged case, which measures 38mm in diameter and 10.15mm thick. The dials are protected by box-type sapphire crystals to increase the vintage vibes.

The first of the two dials is beige with printed black Arabic numerals at the hours encircled by a printed black track with small numerals for every five seconds/minutes. A nice detail is the blue PVD-treated handset, which contrasts the beige dial and black markings. The large numerals take after the oversized numerals on classic railroad watches.

The second dial features a beige center and a circular-brushed silver outer ring. The latter holds the printed bronze Arabic numerals and indexes. Additionally, you will find a printed black minutes/seconds track on the sloping edge of the dial.

Both versions come standard on a black calfskin strap with a stainless steel pin buckle. Inside the case of both watches is the AL-520, a Sellita SW200-1-based caliber. This dateless movement operates at 28,800vph and offers 38 hours of power reserve. At €1,695, these two Heritage Automatic watches are two more great vintage-inspired offerings from Alpina.

Alpina Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic GMT

If you read last Friday’s list, you know we placed the Alpina Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic GMT among our top five watches for the outdoors. The Seastrong collection holds a small number of sturdy and capable divers. Besides the regular Automatic models, there is also a GMT model that we love. The cream/champagne-dial version is a great-looking modern timepiece. Additionally, the brand offers a black-dial variant. Both models feature a cushion-shaped case with a 39mm diameter, a 46mm lug-to-lug, and a 12mm thickness. The case has a 300m depth rating and a bidirectional bezel with a black ceramic insert featuring raised numerals.

The two dials share the triangular pattern that Alpina also uses for its Alpiner Extreme models. Of course, the black dial matches the black ceramic insert nicely. With the matching rubber strap, this watch has a sporty, predominantly black palette that nicely accentuates the case shape. The cream/champagne-dial model is a little more versatile, and its combination of colors fits the modern silhouette nicely.

Both watches feature small red accents, two of which relate to the GMT function. Inside the case, you will find the brand’s caliber AL-560, which is based on the Sellita SW330-2 GMT movement and offers 50 hours of power reserve. At €2,495, this is the priciest option out of the five, but it is a super nice and sturdy daily wearer that is ready for everything you throw at it.

Alpina Heritage Seastrong Diver 300

Our last pick is another model inspired by Alpina’s rich past. The Heritage Seastrong Diver 300 takes after the 10 Seastrong, the brand’s very first Super Compressor diver from 1967. The modern version has a 42mm Super Compressor-look case with a 12.3mm thickness and 300m depth rating. In keeping with aesthetic tradition, the case features two crowns on the right side. The crown at 2 o’clock allows you to rotate the internal 60-minute bezel, while the one at 4 o’clock sets the time and winds the movement. To increase the vintage vibes, the watch has an ultra-domed sapphire crystal.

Under the crystal lies a gray-green sunburst dial. We picked this version because it does not have a date window, leaving the dial looking nice and clean. This dial features silver-colored hands and markers, whereas the other dateless version has a far more retro feel with its black dial and gold-colored markers.

Inside the watch’s case, you will find the same AL-520 movement that powers the Heritage Automatic models featured above. This watch, however, features a green rubber strap with a textile pattern and pin buckle to finish the look off. This Alpina Heritage Seastrong Diver 300 is a great vintage-inspired dive watch at €1,695 and the perfect closer for our list.

Another great option, the Alpina Alpiner Extreme California

Final thoughts on the best current Alpina watches

There you have it! These are our five favorite modern Alpina watches. As most of you know, there are plenty more to choose from. However, the watches on our list give a nice overview of the variety in Alpina’s current collection. And, as I said, keep an eye on Fratello for something special coming later this week.

This article was written in collaboration with Alpina. Learn more.