Alpina  Startimer  Watches

Alpina Startimer: An Aviator’s Companion 

Alpina is a Swiss watch manufacturing company that specializes in sports watches mainly used in air (Alpina Startimer), land (Alpina Alpiner), and sea (Alpina Seastrong). They also have a separate collection for the ladies (Alpina Comtesse), smartwatches (AlpinerX and StartimerX), and even watch accessories like interchangeable straps and charger cords for their smartwatch. However, the most popular Alpina watches is their aviation collection, the Alpina Startimer watches. 

With the brand’s aviation heritage during the 1920s to 1930s, they have consistently improved on their pilot style watches to provide aviators with high-quality sports watches which are simple yet comfortable and stylish. The Alpina Startimer collection has exciting variations that you can choose since each watch has their own unique personality and functionality. You can choose between a quartz and an automatic movement with either a larger date display or a chronograph feature, or even a smartwatch. 

These additional features included in their redefined Alpina Startimer collection showcase the brand’s expertise and ingenuity in improving and, at the same time, staying faithful to its predecessors. Hence, these watches embody Alpina’s traditional essence to create modern aviation or pilot-inspired watches that will continue to serve its purpose. 

Prices at a Glance: The Most Popular Alpina Startimer Watches

How much does an Alpina Startimer watch cost?

From the Alpina watches price list above, we get an idea of what is in Alpina Startimer’s sub-categories or sub-models that are available for their customers. 

Prices for the Alpina Startimer Pilot Quartz Models

Similar to the Pilot Automatic variation, the Alpina Startimer Pilot Quartz focuses on the movement, and also has a chronograph feature available. With quartz watches, they are less expensive than their automatic counterparts, require less maintenance, and are more accurate and precise in telling time. 

You can get a minimalist looking quartz watch worth $290 USD with the Alpina Startimer Pilot Quartz Black AL-240B4FBS6, which has a 42mm black dial with a stainless steel case and a nylon band material. It has a date display at the 3 o’clock position, and features the iconic red triangle at the seconds hand. Unlike the Pilot Automatic series, the Arabic numeral hour indexes are not embossed but are still large and legible to read. 

Its chronograph counterpart is the Alpina Startimer Pilot Chronograph Quartz Black AL-371BB4FBS6, priced at $380 USD. Aside from the same technical features as the previous model, it also has some more added features. It has a black PVD stainless steel case with a calfskin leather strap, and additional features like a chronograph and a date display at the 5 o’clock position. 

Prices for the Alpina Startimer Pilot Big Date Watches

Similar to the Pilot Quartz series, the Alpina Startimer Pilot Big Date has a quartz movement as well. The main highlight of this collection is the extra-large date display placed at the 6 o’clock position. Unlike the small date display windows, the Pilot Big Date makes it easier to read the date and time at a glance. For instance, the Startimer Pilot Big Date AL-372N4S6 combines both chronograph features with the oversized date display that matches with its petrol blue dial and stainless steel casing. This particular model which has the red triangle trademark retails for around $1,090 USD. 

Prices for the Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic Models

For the Pilot Automatic variation, this collection highlights the watch’s automatic movement and its subtle minimalist design. These Alpina watches come in different colored dials and casings either in stainless steel or gold. They all feature elegant embossed hour indexes, Alpina red triangle at the 12 o’clock and seconds hand, a date function at the 3 o’clock position, and an oversized screw-in crown. The Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic AL-525G4S4, for instance, is an automatic watch with a grey dial encased in a rose gold-plated stainless steel. It is bigger in size (44mm), and unlike the other models in this particular collection, this watch retails at an affordable price which is around $800 USD. 

Prices for the Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage Watches

The Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage pays tribute to their original designs. In other words, the watches have a more vintage or retro appearance. Most of the watches in this series have a slightly rectangular shape with rounded edges. Its general features include either a GMT functionality or a chronograph with a tachymeter on its bezel. For this collection, however, the most prominent models are the ones with the chronograph feature since they represent both tradition and innovativeness from the brand. 

The chronograph models also have different caliber movements compared to the round-shaped automatic watch in their collection which simply has an AL-525 automatic caliber. For instance, the $3,300 USD Startimer Pilot Heritage Chronograph Silver AL-727SS4H6 has a bi-compax dial with a more intricate AL-727 automatic chronograph caliber movement. This 42mm watch also features a stainless steel case with a silver dial and a tachymeter on its inner bezel ring. 

Prices for the Alpina Startimer Pilot Manufacture Models

The Alpina Startimer Pilot Manufacture AL-710G4S6, priced at $2,500 USD, a great representative of this series, exudes modern elegance and technology with its smooth dark and silver design. The 44mm automatic watch comes in a stainless steel case with an anthracite colored dial that contrasts with its silver indexes, and is secured with a black calfskin leather strap with white stitching. What is unique about this 100m water resistant watch is the sub-dial positioned at 6 o’clock. It is actually a date dial with the even numbers represented in dashes and numerals for the odd numbers. 

Prices for the Alpina StartimerX Balance Watches

Branching out of the Startimer Pilot collection, the Alpina StartimerX Balance is another kind of watch that pays homage to its parent collection. For these Alpina watches, it is a complete deviation from the other models. The Alpina StartimerX Balance showcases the brand’s innovativeness in keeping up with modern trends and traits. These Alpina watches are part of their smartwatch collection, thus making it another innovative step forward for the brand. 

This collection offers a wide range of colors for their hour indices that beautifully contrasts the black dial. From a minimal black and grey variation to a bold black and purple variation, it showcases Alpina’s expertise in experimenting with modern technology and design. 

All the watches in the collection cost around $650 USD which is relatively affordable for a smartwatch. As a representative for this collection, the Alpina StartimerX Balance AL-187BLN4S6 is a beautiful black and navy light blue combination. It is 41.5mm in size, 50m water resistance, has an MMT-187 connected calibre, black glass fiber case with a blue rubber strap, and a black dial with blue luminous Arabic indexes and hands. 

Since it is a smartwatch, it has its own ‘connected features’ which means that it is compatible with the Alpina smartwatch app available on both Android and IOS.

Alpina StartimerX: The Smartwatch Collection

As mentioned, the Alpina StartimerX can be connected to your phone so that you can access its additional technological functions. The StartimerX collection deviates a lot from their other watch collections since the StartimerX incorporates modern technology to make it even more functional. Similar to the AlpinerX, it has functions like heart rate monitoring, activity tracking, get-active alters, leep monitoring, body temperature, world timer (second time zone), and cloud backup and restore. 

What differs is that the AlpinerX has features more suitable for land activities like a UV indicator, altitude, compass, timer, and a barometer. On the other hand, StartimerX, being a part of Alpina’s air series, has an additional “workout with GPS tracking (connected GPS)”. It is also more playful and colorful in its design compared to the AlpinerX collection. 

History Behind the Alpina Startimer Collection

Their Alpina Startimer watch collection is an homage to their aviation history during the 1920s and 30s where Alpina was known as an official watch supplier for the military, specifically the pilots. Their earlier models had specific requirements that were unique only to aviation watches. 

In general, the characteristics of a pilot watch were: (1) the large and legible dials so that it can be easily read when they are on air, (2) the luminous indices and hands for night flights, (3) large oversized crown so that it can be adjusted with their gloves on, and lastly, (4) GMT functions with or without the extra bezel markings/indicators. 

Aside from its general external appearance, the earlier watches also had technical and strict requirements needed for air flights. The instruments needed to be precise and accurate with ultimate shock resistance. It also required an anti-magnetic case with a high-contrast dial with larger luminous numeral indices, hands, and date displays for instant and easier readability. With these earlier model requirements, Alpina revisits its rich aviation heritage with its exciting Startimer Pilot collection launched in 2011. 

Not only did they incorporate old features and designs into their new collection, but they also added some of their in-house calibers for an even more authentic watch. The watches in the collection are 40mm to 44mm in size with either leather or rubber straps to give it that vintage and modern aesthetic. In partnership with Cessna Aviation and PrivatAir, Alpina created and designed high quality functional watches perfect for aviation or any outdoor sports activities. 

Reasons to Buy an Alpina Startimer Watch

With the features and models discussed, you might be asking yourself: are Alpina watches good? The answer is yes, and here’s why.

The first reason to buy or invest in an Alpina Startimer watch is the brand’s in-house caliber movements that are patented and professionally distributed in their watches. The Startimer Pilot series has modified Alpina in-house calibers, like the AL-860 Automatic Chronograph, which are specifically designed for professional aviators or military pilots. 

Its overall aviation purpose makes it a high functional and quality watch since it has all the necessary features. Most watches in the collection have chronographs, GMTs, and oversized date display options which can be used for any outdoor activities. 

Lastly, from the price list, we can see that these Alpina Startimer watches, in general, are relatively affordable including their StartimerX smartwatches. Indeed, it is truly a remarkable sports watch that you can get at a reasonable price. These are pretty good investments for any outdoor enthusiasts. 

Traverse the Skies with the Alpina Startimer Watch

The Alpina Startimer watch collection is truly an aviator’s companion that helps them traverse the skies with a highly functional watch. These Alpina watches highlight the quality and technicalities of their watches to produce a sports watch that is worthy of its value. With their knowledge of aviation and other modern watch technologies, they are able to create the Alpina Startimer and StartimerX collection which effectively provides its loyal customers with high quality and affordable automatic or quartz watches with a lot of additional features.