California dials are hardly a new design as this unique style of display can be found on watches that date back as early as the 1930s and 1940s. However, an increasing number of brands seem to be embracing the California dial in more recent years, and variations of this style have started to appear on a fairly wide assortment of timepieces. As its latest release of 2023, Alpina has created a new version of its Alpiner Extreme Automatic that is fitted with a California dial, and this inherently retro style creates an interesting contrast when paired with the highly modern and angular design language of the most recent generation of the brand’s outdoor-inspired sports watch.
The new Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic California Dial (ref. AL-525BB4AE6) is based upon the latest generation of the model that was unveiled last year, and this means that it features the same angular cushion-shaped stainless steel case that measures 41mm wide by 42.5mm in the lug-to-lug direction, with an overall thickness of 11.5mm. Like the existing models, a bezel with exposed screws surrounds a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment, while a display-style caseback closes up the reverse side of the watch. Additionally, the signed crown at 3 o’clock features a black rubberized grip, and it screws down to the middle case in order to help support the Alpiner Extreme Automatic’s ample 200 meters of water resistance.
The face of this most recent release is where the watch differs from its siblings, and the dial fitted to the new Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic California Dial features a matte black surface with a gentle grain-textured finish, and it has its minute track printed on an angled chapter ring with a date window at the 3 o’clock location. Featuring Roman numeral hour markers on the upper half of the dial with Arabic numerals on the lower half, the markers themselves appear in a beige-tinted luminous material, with batons at the cardinal points and an inverted triangle at the 12 o’clock location. Additionally, while the shape of the handset has been carried over from the standard time-and-date models, the hour and minute hands are now filled with beige-tinted luminous material to match the hour markers, while small red accents appear on both the dial and the counterweight of the seconds hand.
Powering the Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic California Dial is the Caliber AL-525 self-winding movement, which is the brand’s version of the Sellita SW200, and it therefore runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 38 hours. Although this movement is very much a known quantity, the version that Alpina uses includes a custom rotor that is finished black and asymmetrically cut out on one side to create a shape that echoes the brand’s triangular logo. Lastly, fitted to the semi-integrated lugs of the new Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic California Dial is a black two-piece rubber strap that offers the same textured style as the other models in the collection, and it closes with a deployant-style clasp that operates with a double push-button release.
The California dial is an inherently utilitarian design, as it was originally created to be a high-visibility display, where the different types of hour markers would offer an “error-proof” reading of the time. That said, because this style of dial is so strongly associated with vintage watches, California dials are most frequently fitted to models with retro-leaning designs, and even the one fitted to this latest version of the Alpiner is finished with vintage-inspired beige lume. However, this ultimately creates a fun contrast when paired with the highly modern case of Alpina’s Alpiner Extreme collection, and the net result is a decidedly modern watch that also offers an unmistakably retro theme to its design. With an official retail price of $1,795 USD, the new Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic California Dial costs a hundred bucks more than the other time-and-date versions of the model, and despite its significantly different appearance, this California dial version isn’t a limited edition, and will instead be joining the collection as a standard-production model. For more information on the Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic California Dial, please visit the brand’s website.
