Alpina was founded in 1883 and has a rich history of creating Swiss-made watches for more than 140 years, producing high-quality timepieces that are stylish, reliable, and priced just right. When it comes to value for your money, few brands do it as well as Alpina. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Alpina was acquired by the Citizen Watch Group and is now one of the six brands that the group owns including Citizen, Bulova, Arnold & Son, Frederique Constant, and Campanela.
The new Alpina Alpiner Extreme Chronograph Automatic is a watch that we’ve been wanting to review since its release at the end of 2023 and here we have it now. A sturdy, well-crafted chronograph built like a tank that can take on the daily abuse of tool watch-seeking aficionados. And above all, this watch won’t break the bank. To give you guys an idea of why we call it a tank, the watch is very heavy with a total weight of 191.5 grams —which is a lot more than other stainless steel watches of this size.
This watch is available with a silver dial —like the one here— as reference AL-730SB4AE6B or with a blue dial with silver counters as reference AL-730NS4AE6B.
Things to Know About the Watch
The Alpina Alpiner Extreme Chronograph Automatic is equipped with a stainless steel case reported by Alpina as 41 mm —when measured from edge to edge at the bezel. However, in reality, this should be considered a 42.8 mm case diameter with the measurement taken from the protruding area on the left caseband to the right caseband where the crown is flushed with the case. Not a big deal but we want to give you the exact measurements so that you can make the best decision based on your wrist size.
When it comes to its thickness, the Alpina Alpiner Extreme Chronograph sits on the thicker end of the scale at 14.7 mm measured from the center of the front sapphire crystal to the center of the sapphire crystal on the display case back —Alpina states 11.7 mm on their website.
The three-part case is meticulously finished with a very well-executed satin-brushed finish and mirror-polished areas. The case features some nice anglage often reserved for many higher-priced timepieces. The vertical satin-brushed finished bezel is set with six screws with a triangular head and the finish is comparable to that on Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshores. The screw-down crown —which features the Alpina triangle logo and a black hard rubber o-ring— ensures a 200-meter water resistance.
The Dial
The Alpina Alpiner Extreme Chronograph Panda is fitted with a gorgeous silver dial, a black minute flange, tricompax layout black counters, and applied silver-tone markers filled with white luminous treatment —not the brightest to be fair. The finishing of the dial, the registers, and the hands is very impressive considering that the price is under USD 5,000. The silver dial is embossed with a triangular pattern evoking the Alpina triangle logo, and the concave black counters are perfectly snailed.
All hands including those for the chronograph are filled with luminous material —a feature rarely seen on chronographs regardless of their price point and that we’ve only seen lately on the Breitling Chronomat B01 42 that retails for USD 8,750.
The red accent on the triangular counterweight of the seconds hand adds a nice touch of color to the panda color scheme of the dial and a discreet date aperture sits between the 4 and 5 o’clock markers. The icing on the cake is the sapphire crystal treated with anti-reflective treatment on its interior to guarantee unparalleled readability and reduced glare.
The Bracelet
The Alpina Alpiner Extreme Chronograph is equipped with a very nice stainless steel bracelet that is not super heavy or flimsy at all. The design of this bracelet is somewhat reminiscent of the bracelet on the DEFY El Primero 21 but with a more seamless link construction and thinner links.
The bracelet features a satin-brushed finish with nice chamfering on the edges and mirror-polished sides. From the factory, the bracelet is large enough to fit larger wrists and with enough removable links —including one half-link on each side of the bracelet— to give average and smaller wrists the perfect fit. Kudos to Alpina for thinking of this as watches in the five or six-figure price point won’t even think of adding half-links.
Lastly, the bracelet features a deployment double-folding clasp that fits comfortably on the back of the wrist and the clasp closure features an Alpina triangle logo that combines bead-blasted and satin-brushed finishes.
The Movement
Turning the watch over reveals the beating heart of the Alpiner Extreme Chronograph Automatic. The self-winding calibre AL-730 is, in reality, a Swiss-made Sellita SW510a in its most basic form with no blued screws, no high-end finishes, and with sand-blasted main plate and bridges —the standard D1 finishing from Sellita.
While this movement is not further finished by Alpina, it is upgraded by the brand by adding a beautiful dark grey —almost black— galvanic-treated asymmetrical oscillating weight with the Alpina logo on it. This 27-jewel movement provides a power reserve of 62 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph.
On the Wrist & Price
On the wrist, the Alpina Alpiner Extreme Chronograph Automatic wears much bigger than its actual size and more like a 43 mm watch —considering the protruding area on the left caseband. Please take into consideration that the wrist size in our pictures is between 7.25 to 7.5” in circumference and the watch still looks just right and not too big.
Overall, the Alpiner Extreme Chronograph Automatic feels very sturdy and somewhat chunky sitting high on the wrist, nevertheless, it wears comfortably despite its almost 200 grams of weight. A beautiful automatic chronograph that ticks all the boxes and that is extremely well-finished for its price right under USD 3,500.
Sticker Price USD 3,195. For more info on Alpina click here.
