I saw Gnomon Watches of Singapore putting up for sale the Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT last month. I tried getting one but was unsuccessful. Recently, the merchant re-listed another one under the series, the reference AL-555LNS4H6 nicknamed Sunset Blue. I quickly made my order and within 24 hours it was on my desk.On Gnomon Watches, the watch was listed at USD1,080.00. The MSRP is EUR1,295.00. I was able get it for RM4,674.11.
The watch is a tonneau shaped watch casing with hidden lugs, two crowns, boxed crystal, leather strap, three hands, GMT function and date wheel.
The watch has a vintage feel to it. For those of you that prefer the classic look, the Pilot Heritage GMT has all the trappings.
Alpina has a long history of watch making. It had its golden age and it also suffered under the Quartz Crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. Close to collapsing, Alpina was able to weather the storm and today, the brand is revitalising its name with many interesting offerings. To read more about the brand, please refer to the book about Alpina at the end of this posting.
The Dial
There are three distinct zones on the dial. The outermost region is the movable internal bezel painted white with alternating markers and Arabic numerals making a 24-hour timing scale. The middle zone is light blue colour in colour with sunburst tone. On this zone, you will find minute markers, applied hour markers with Superluminova dot on them, as well as GMT hour markers. You will also find the date aperture as well as three lines of text. The inner zone is painted solid blue. It is a spinning disk with a white triangle as the only reference point to track the GMT hour.
The applied hour marker for 12 o’clock was replaced by the brand and the applied hour marker for 3 o’clock was replaced by the date aperture. The date aperture is rather unique. Surrounded by a rectangular polished frame, the hole in the dial was cut in a circular manner. The cut surface was also polished and this gives another visual cue of depth for the dial.
The hours and minutes hands are sword-like with their centre portions painted with Superluminova. The seconds hand is painted orange which harks to the time of classic sport watches. The orange does bring a bit of liveliness to the dial.
The dial is protected by a boxed sapphire crystal with double AR coating on the inside and outside surfaces of the crystal. It extends an additional 1 mm or so beyond the fixed external bezel.
The watch casing is 42 mm wide and 45 mm lug-to-lug. Made out of stainless steel, it has surfaces that are satin brushed and polished . Meanwhile, the lug width is 23 mm. The watch casing plus the boxed crystal extends the height to 13 mm. For my 7.25 inch circumference wrist, the watch sits snugly on it. The lugs have a 'zero-length design' that makes the watch have the smallest possible footprint on the wrist.
The watch has two crowns located at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock. The crown at 2 o’clock is a screw-down with a checkered top surface. It controls the inner rotating bezel. Do note the bezel is bi-directional in rotation. Meanwhile, the crown at 4 o’clock uses a push-in-pull-out system and it controls the manual winding, quick setting date and the various hands.
The watch has a solid case-back. The case-back is a screw-down with a large central etching of three peaks of the Swiss Alps and the brand name as well as a logo. Interestingly, instead of the triangle with a circle logo, a silhouette of a jet plane is used which would be synonymous with the Startimer Pilot range. Apart from the graphic, other basic information about the watch can be found sandblasted around it. Underneath the case-back is the Sellita based Caliber AL-555 with the added jumping hour module by Alpina. This self-winding movement with manual winding capability beats at a frequency of 4 Hertz or 28.800 BPH and has the seconds hand stop function. It offers a quick setting date complication as well as a GMT rotating disk and a jumping hours hand. This allows one to track the base time using the rotating disk and the local time using the jumping hours hand. By having this system, one can easily change the local time when one moves from one timezone to another without upsetting the minutes and seconds. Meanwhile, the Caliber also offers a 38 hour power reserve when fully wound and uses 26 jewels in the movement.
Pulling the crown at 4 o’clock by one position allows one to adjust the date (turning the crown one way) and adjust the jumping hours hand (turning the crown the other way). Pulling the crown to the second position will activate the seconds hand stop function and you can adjust all the hands including the GMT rotating disk. For more information, I have attached the quick manual and the full manual at the end of this posting.
The watch is paired with a brown calfskin leather straps decorated with contrasting white stitches. The strap tapers from 23 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the Alpina signed stainless steel buckle.
Here I have a problem with the product I got from Alpina. There is a major quality control issue with my example. If you see the photo above, you will note that the buckle hook is facing the opposite direction. It should rest on the small notch and not on the brand part of the buckle. Thankfully, it was an easy repair. What is shocking is how such a simple problem can pass through quality control and get into the hands of a consumer.
The illumination on the watch is just adequate. In the photo above, you can just about see the hour markers and hands. I would prefer it if Alpina added more Superluminova paint on the dial.
The Wearing Experience
The watch wears well. It looks rather sweet on the wrist with the nice light blue coloured dial with the thin white ring making it look more expensive than its actual price point.
Apart from the quality control issue identified earlier, Everything else is fine.
Below is a video of the watch on my wrist.
AL-555 Specific Manual by on Scribd
ALPINA General Booklet War... by on Scribd
Alpina The History by on Scribd
The Series
There are four members of the Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT series. They all have nicknames that correspond to their respective dial colours.
 REF. AL-555DGS4H6 Inky Black |  REF. AL-555LNS4H6 Sunset Blue |
 REF. AL-555N4H6 Glacier Blue |  REF. AL-555RGS4H6 Salmon |
The Specifications
Maker: Alpina Geneve - Swiss Made
Movement: Alpina Automatic Caliber AL-555
Dial: Sunset Blue sunray (light blue) with applied markers
Luminous: Superluminova
Date: 3 o'clock
Case: Stainless steel, satin brushed and polished
Bezel: Internal 24Hr GMT rotating bezel
Crown: Alpina signed crown
Lug: 23 mm
Crystal: "Boxed" sapphire crystal, double AR coating outside and inside
Strap: Calf leather strap with buckle. Alpina signed
Water resistance: 10 ATM or 100 meters
Jewels: 26
Dimensions: 42 mm in diameter, 45 mm lug to lug, 13 mm thick
Power Reserve: 38 hours
MSRP: EUR1,295.00.
List of Alpina Reviews Completed Thus Far
 Alpina Pilot Automatic Startimer |  |
Photo Gallery
A new collaboration between Gnomon and Alpina allows us to offer you the Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT Sunset Blue Ref. AL-555LNS4H6 at a one time off special price. Basically, we ordered the Startimer Heritage GMT in bulk and negotiated for a better price and passed on the savings to our customers. So if you are on the fence, order it now before it is sold out!
ReplyDeleteFounded by Gottlieb Hauser in 1883, Alpina has been a creative swiss brand from the early 20th century where they manufactured watch movements and calibers for both the Swiss and the German market. They focus much on rugged tool watches that provides supplies even to the military back then, and continuing their legacy till today.
Sources: WalMart