If I were sitting in a watch store as a salesperson and wanted to espouse the virtues of this particular line of women’s watches from Victorinox, I’d probably say it was for the practical woman who still wants the world to find her attractive. One of the first things I noticed about this 28mm-wide sparkly women’s watch from the traditional “tool watch” maker is the decorative flourishes of mother of pearl and small Swarovski crystals at each hour marker. Victorinox is no stranger to handsome women’s watches, but rarely, if ever, have their previous collections delved so far into “bling.” Enter a Victorinox seemingly interested in the attention of a younger buyer, and for women that appears to begin with timepiece options (though as a guy, I admittedly haven’t examined the latest women’s fashion or luggage options the brand may currently offer). That is the role of this generation Victorinox Alliance XS, seen here as the reference 241879.
Another thing I noticed is the absence of “Swiss Army.” Victorinox and Swiss Army always seem to go together, but not here, as the sole name on the dial is Victorinox. This marketing decision does make sense, since it would be a bit absurd to have “Swiss Army” on what is, essentially, an evening watch. You still have the shield logo at 12 o’clock on the dial. The rest of the dial’s overall aesthetic is something we haven’t really seen from Victorinox before in its women’s collection, but it is fashionable and attractive. It is also legible, with lumed hands and lume on the flange ring, along with comfortable-to-read dial proportions. Thus, the Alliance XS maintains its necessary brand character as a tool watch, while also entering a new type of youthful visual flamboyance that the brand has more traditionally shied away from, in my experience.
The steel case is 28mm-wide in a high polish with a rose gold-toned bezel and dial elements. The Milanese mesh metal bracelet is also rose-gold toned, making the overall composition of the piece two-toned. Victorinox Swiss Army also produces a few other styles of the Alliance XS (five versions at the time of writing), and they all look appreciably distinct with different dials and even bracelets. If the idea of this watch feels right for your wrist or someone’s you know, but the coloration doesn’t work, then it is worth a look to see how the other models compare.
The case is water resistant to 100 meters and has a flat AR-coated sapphire crystal over the dial. Inside the watch is a Swiss quartz movement. The dial is kept elegant without a date window being present. The overall build quality is very good, though, for the price point, I would have liked to see diamond elements, as opposed to crystals. The small stones are quite small as it is, and I think it would have been a real plus-factor for the elements to be diamonds, even if they more or less looked the same as Swarovski crystals at this size and shape.
An argument one could make against this watch is that it is not thoroughly original and it doesn’t have a lot of appreciable Victorinox brand visual DNA. That might be so, but it is a popular look these days, and the reason I like this watch is that Victorinox built it to also be decently durable. There are a lot of watches out there that have a similar visual aesthetic, but many in this price category lack the durability this watch has.
I’ve always recommended Victorinox as a maker of sensible women’s watches, especially when I think someone is looking for ease of use. Over the last few years, the brand has been getting more stylish with its women’s collection, and more recently they have become even more youthful in design. It is nice to see Victorinox Swiss Army currently offering pretty reasonably priced men’s and women’s watches — with plenty of mechanical options for the men’s pieces.
Price for the Victorinox Alliance XS reference 241879 is $495 USD. Learn more at the Victorinox Swiss Army website here.
