Alpina Releases a Surprising Limited Edition for a Big Anniversary in the Heritage Carrée Mechanical

Alpina is celebrating their 140th anniversary this year, and the brand that refers to themselves as the inventors of the sports watch have released a rather surprising limited edition to celebrate the occasion. Most recent Alpinas are very much in that very specific sport and adventure watch genre, and fit a familiar profile with modern sensibilities and a design language that speaks to their overall ruggedness. The new limited edition is cut from a very different cloth, and communes directly with the brand’s long history through the components of the watch itself. Using recently discovered and expertly restored vintage movements from the Alpina archives, the Alpiner Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years is partially a history lesson, but also an example of a creative way to pay respect to the past. 

This one starts with the movement. The Calibre 490 running inside the Heritage Carrée Mechanical was originally produced in 1938. A total of 28 vintage movements were recently uncovered by Alpina, and have been fully restored to function as they were originally intended when they came off the production line 85 years ago. The rectangular movements were not just ordinary, run of the mill calibers for Alpina at the time, but incorporated new features like a crown assembly that was patented to protect against the intrusion of dust into the case, and robust construction that would predict Alpina’s focus on sports watches in the years to come. The manually wound caliber beats at an old-school rate of 2 Hz, and has a power reserve of 42 hours.

We’ve seen vintage movements incorporated into newly produced watches before, of course, but what sets this Alpina apart is that they’ve done something really special with the case. The movement, being rectangular, kind of demands it, and presented Alpina with an opportunity to do something outside the box. A rectangular case to match the caliber is a given, but the decision to craft it in silver was not, and Alpina deserves a lot of credit here for using a precious metal to distinguish their big anniversary limited edition. It’s an original design, not meant to duplicate any particular watch that the Calibre 490 would have originally been found in, but it evokes the Art Deco period nicely in any case. The polished silver case is 29.5 x 35.7mm, and just 9.7mm tall. It features a stepped design, and unlike watches made in the late 1930s and early 40s, it’s been fitted with a sapphire crystal on both the front and back sides. 

An interesting curiosity about this watch, and a reason that the use of silver is notable, is that “original” versions of the watch housing the Calibre 490 would have been made in steel or gold. The choice of case material feels like a throwback to an earlier era, but is in fact a completely contemporary decision, made to reinforce the special nature of this anniversary timepiece, and its overall rarity. Silver has always been an uncommon material for a watch case given its softness and tendency to tarnish, so any watch using it in the case draws a certain amount of attention. 

There are two variants of the Alpiner Heritage Carrée Mechanical, both limited to runs of 14 and featuring identical cases and movements. The distinguishing characteristic between them is the dial, and the geographic area in which the limited editions will be sold. In the United States, the dial is black, with beige hands and a circular small seconds display. A version sold in the rest of the world has a silver dial, black hands, and a square small seconds display. 

The retail price of the Alpiner Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years is $5,395. It will be available in July. Alpina