The Nite Alpha is the most appealing product available from the brand right now. It isn’t the brand’s most expensive item, nor is it the least expensive. Rather, it’s a very well-rounded and decently-priced general purpose diver’s watch that I think has a place for anyone seeking a timepiece they can just “kick around” and not worry about. Nite currently lists over a dozen Alpha models, which come on straps or bracelets, in natural or black-coated steel, and with at least three dial styles. This Nite Alpha 208 model in natural brushed steel and blue paired with a matching polymer strap represents the entry-level price for the Alpha collection – and is my current favorite.
Hands-on images by Ariel Adams
Nite Alpha Design
The Alpha design mixes a series of modern yet classic dive-style watches. It isn’t as techy-looking as say, a Luminox, but it doesn’t feel like a retro sports watch either. Bringing up Luminox (and watches like it) makes sense because the Nite Alpha (like most other Nite watches) features tritium gas tube illumination. The more traditional round tubes are used in the hands, while flatter and wider tubes are used for the hour markers. That means the dial doesn’t have the typical look of being set with round tubes, offering a more traditional diver’s style dial, which I quite like.
I also like the clean look of the dial which doesn’t have any extra elements that would complicate the design or hinder legibility. Proportions overall are nice, and I like the metallic sheen of the blue-colored dial quite a bit. The orange accents are attractive and help complete the overall look in an appreciably harmonious manner.
Nite Alpha Strap & Case
One of the reasons that I chose the Alpha watch on a strap is because I was worried it would wear too large for my wrists on the matching bracelet. More so, I find that straps tend to serve me better for sports watches when I plan on getting wet or sweating. Nite uses a polymer strap and not a rubber or silicone one. Rubber would have been better, but the polymer strap doesn’t bother me, and it features an interesting surface design and is made to perfectly fit the contours of the case – also a major plus.
The case itself is 42mm wide (and 14.8mm thick with a roughly 51mm lug-to-lug distance minus the strap), but the Alpha wears large. As you can see, the fitted polymer strap goes outwards before it goes down, meaning that while the watch will fit on smaller wrists, the strap will noticeably overhang a bit making the watch look large for (again) smaller wrists such as my own. This, of course, can be remedied by removing the supplied strap and replacing it with any number of aftermarket 22mm wide watch straps. I bet a blue-colored NATO-style strap would look particularly handsome on this Alpha 208 model.
Returning to the supplied strap for a moment, I want to mention that Nite uses a more “secure” two-prong style buckle as well as two small tabs which help secure the excess strap in the strap loop. Without this feature, the slicker-textured polymer strap might fall out of the loop – whereas the increased surface friction of rubber straps don’t really have that issue. I just appreciate that Nite made sure to properly engineer the strap given the material used for it.
Nite Alpha Movement
As a diver’s style watch the Alpha is water-resistant to 300m and has an AR-coated (three-layers according to Nite) sapphire crystal. Another really nice feature is the use of a blue ceramic insert in the unidirectional rotating bezel. Note as well the use of a tritium gas tube as the lume pip at the 60-minute marker on the bezel. Inside the watch is a Swiss Ronda caliber 715Li quartz movement and “Li” stands for lithium-ion, meaning that the movement has a 10-year battery life.
For me, that is a big plus because my typical complaint about quartz watches is that although they are more accurate than mechanical watches, I don’t want to wear my quartz watches when the battery is dead or about to die. For that reason, I love light-powered or kinetic powered quartz movements. With a 10-year battery life in the Nite Alpha, you can not only have an accurate beater-style sports watch at your disposal, but you can be sure that you won’t need to replace the battery for a really long time.
Good looks, quality parts, decent construction, versatility, and reliability are qualities that together make for a rather decent tool watch value proposition. At a few thousand dollars I’d say forget this watch and find something else that has more luxury or status appeal. Though at under $600, you get a good mixture of value and the resulting end-product. There certainly are cheaper watches in the massive category of quartz sports watches, but few that I encounter capture my attention quite like the Nite Alpha. Price for this Nite Alpha 208 is $580 USD. Learn more or order at Nite Watches here.
