Among its latest new releases presented this year at Geneva Watch Days 2024, Alpina has announced the Heritage Automatic, which is a simple three-handed timepiece with vintage-inspired styling that is available with the option of two different dials. While a significant portion of Alpina’s contemporary catalog is characterized by a distinctly modern appearance, the Swiss brand’s Heritage collection looks to the past for its aesthetic inspiration. The new Alpina Heritage Automatic pays tribute to the classically styled timepieces that dominated the industry between the 1920s and 1940s.
Crafted from polished stainless steel with a traditional round profile, the case of the Alpina Heritage Automatic measures 38mm in diameter by 10.15mm thick. It features a box-shaped sapphire crystal (with anti-reflective treatment) surrounded by a thin fixed bezel, while a solid stainless steel caseback is fitted to the reverse side of the watch. An unsigned crown sits on the side of the case at 3 o’clock. Water resistance comes in at a minimal 30 meters, and although the caseback doesn’t have intentions to accommodate a case tool (which would normally suggest a snap-on caseback), the press release for the Alpina Heritage Automatic states that its caseback actually features a threaded design.
At the time of writing, the Alpina Heritage Automatic is available with the option of two different dials, although both versions receive the same sword-shaped handset with a blue PVD finish. Both dials feature a time-only layout with a fundamentally vintage-inspired appearance. While the ref. AL-520BG3SH6 receives a field watch-style dial, the ref. AL-520SBG3SH6 is fitted with a sector dial to create a more dressy and refined overall package. The field watch-style dial fitted to the ref. AL-520BG3SH6 features a matte beige surface with black Arabic numerals and a railroad-style minute track, while the sector-style dial fitted to the ref. AL-520SBG3SH6 has a matte beige central section surrounded by a sunray-finished silver outer ring, and it is completed by a set of bronze-colored printed indexes.
Powering the Alpina Heritage Automatic is the brand’s Caliber AL-520 automatic movement, which is the no-date version of the Cal. AL-525 that can be found inside the majority of Alpina’s time-and-date models. Just like its date-displaying counterpart, the Alpina Cal. AL-520 is based upon the core architecture of the Sellita SW200, which means that it is a self-winding movement with 26 jewels that runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 38 hours. Additionally, while Alpina rarely decorates its calibers, the appearance of the movement is entirely irrelevant in this particular instance since the Heritage Automatic hides its internals behind a solid caseback.
Fitted to the 19mm lugs of the Alpina Heritage Automatic is a black calf leather strap that features a subtle texture on its outer surface with black tone-on-tone stitching running down the sides. Completed by a standard stainless steel pin buckle, the strap for the Heritage Automatic offers an incredibly simple and straightforward design, and it is free from all modern flourishes such as fitted end pieces or integrated quick-release springbars. While the strap is the definition of inauspicious, this type of no-frill design was specifically selected for this vintage-inspired model, as it closely mirrors the straps that would have originally been fitted to the wristwatches that first pioneered these dial designs more than half a century ago.
All of Alpina’s watches exist within a fairly narrow price segment, and the difference in cost between the brand’s various automatic models typically only amounts to a total of a few hundred dollars. With an official retail price of $1,795 USD, the new Alpina Heritage Automatic is positioned directly in line with the rest of the Swiss brand’s mechanical offerings, although it is important to note that other Alpina models (such as those from the Alpiner collection) feature more robust cases with greater levels of water resistance for roughly the same price. That said, the Heritage Automatic models offer a noticeably more refined aesthetic than what is typically associated with Alpina’s catalog, and their vintage-inspired styling provides them with an aesthetic versatility that is ideally suited to being a person’s everyday wristwatch. For more information on the Alpina Heritage Automatic, please visit the brand’s website.
