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Alpina

Alpina Blackens Pilot Heritage Automatic Monopusher

Alpina expands its Startimer Pilot Heritage mono-pusher chronograph collection with the Startimer Pilot Heritage Automatic Chronograph Blackout, two black-cased models that offer a choice of dial: black or silver. 

The pair adds a bit of darkness to the existing blue and silver models that characterize this impressive vintage-tinged pilot series.

Alpina offer the Startimer Pilot Heritage Automatic Chronograph Blackout with a black or silver dial.

The new contemporary color touch again serves to highlight how this cushion-shaped mini-series differs from its mostly round brothers within the Startimer Pilot Heritage collection. 

Here with a polished and brushed black-PVD case, its vintage-inspired single-pusher and bicompax subdial layout set the watch further apart both within its own brand and from the vast majority of other Swiss-made aviation chronographs available.

The fact that Alpina fits the watch with a customized single‐push‐piece chronograph designed by La Joux‐Perret enhances its interest among collectors, especially given the watch’s $2,995 price tag. 

The chronograph measures short time intervals (30 minutes) and also offers a 55‐hour power reserve, nearly 45% more than its predecessor.

Both variations of the watch offer a case that is polished black on the sides and satin‐finished on top. Circular guilloché counters assist light diffusion while sturdy hour and minute hands are topped with SuperLuminova.

Alpina is offering each version (black and silver-dialed models) as a limited edition of fifty, so expect some competition. 

Price: $2,995. 

Specifications: Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage Automatic Chronograph Blackout Edition

Movement: Alpina AL‐727 caliber, automatic mono‐pusher chronograph designed by La Joux‐Perret, 55‐hour power reserve, 28,800 alt/h. 

Case: 42mm x 40.75mm by 14.5 mm black PVD coated stainless steel 2‐part. Scratch‐resistant and convex sapphire crystal, water‐resistant to 100 meters, engraved case back, screw‐in crown and case back, chronograph pusher at 2 o’clock. 

Dials: Silver-dial model: Silver dial with sunray finishing and applied silver indexes filled with white luminous treatment, black outer ring with tachymeter graduation, silver hour and minute hands filled with white luminous treatment. Black seconds counter at 9 o’clock with sunray finishing and white hand, black chronograph hand and black minutes chronograph counter at 3 o’clock with sunray finishing and white hand.

Black dialed model: Black dial with sunray finishing and applied silver indexes filled with white luminous treatment, black outer ring with tachymeter graduation, hand‐polished silver hour and minute hands filled with white luminous treatment, black chronograph hand,
silver-color seconds counter at 9 o’clock with sunray finishing and black hand, silver color minutes chronograph counter at 3 o’clock with sunray finishing and black hand. 

Strap: Black leather strap with white stitching.

Price: $2,995. 

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On The Wrist

On the Wrist: The Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph

By Isaac Despain 

The Luminox ‘secret sauce’ has always been making large, rugged, watches with tritium markers. This one, the 44mm Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph, is no exception. It has all the features that you would expect from Luminox, like 200 meters of water resistance, a sapphire crystal, and a Ronda quartz movement.

The Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph is priced at $795 on a black, white or colorful rubber strap and is $895 on the steel bracelet.

Despite having three additional functions on the dial, the hands are broad and easy to see against the backdrop of the busy dial. Otherwise, reading the time would be like playing “Where’s Waldo?”. 

Looking at the bezel, the forward action is great if you like a loud tactile ‘clack’ that can scare the neighbor’s cat. However, it does have a bit of back-play. The chronograph pushers are tactile and make this watch a fidgeter’s dream come true.

Quality product

This Luminox feels like a quality product on the wrist and all of the features are a pleasure to use.

What could Luminox have done better? 

The markings on the bezel are a real point of contention for me. When you set the bezel anywhere on the lower half of the watch, the “05” reads like a “50”. I also feel like the pip should have more contrast with the rest of the bezel as it takes me a second longer to find it. Perhaps adding a dash of red or white would have solved the problem. And unfortunately, the bezel on my example does not line up well with the dial.

Typically, this is no big deal if you are paying less than $400, but when you’re forking out $795-plus I would hope for better. 

How does it wear? Awesome, actually! I have small wrists and this watch sits flat and comfortably all day. A lot of that is due to the well-designed lugs that are compact and hug the case.

Due to the fact that this watch wears a lot smaller than it is, wearing it in public doesn’t make me feel like I’m compensating for my little man syndrome. Although the specs might suggest otherwise, I am happy to report that the Pacific Diver Chrono does not wear like a “wristburger”!

Light show

We have ignored the star of the show. The real magic happens when the lights go out and the tritium ampules fluoresce. I love setting this watch on my night stand and being able to see what time it is when I get up for the fifth time at night. It’s a game changer. 

So what’s the verdict? The Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph is perfect for you if you are someone who likes the functional look of a big watch, a busy dial, and tactile feature interfaces.

If you can forgive the minor issues with the bezel, this watch will reward you with a taste of that sweet Luminox ‘secret sauce’. If you are the kind of person who wouldn’t touch a 44mm watch with a ten-foot pole, try one on before you make any assumptions. As for me, I found myself slapping this watch on the wrist and showing it off a lot more than I expected to. I really like it for what it is.

On the rubber strap, the Luminox Pacific Diver Chronograph is priced at $795 and is $895 on the steel bracelet.

 

Pros:

+ 44mm wears great, even on smaller wrists

+ Tactile action with the bezel and chrono pushers

+ Tritium rocks! Until it doesn’t…

+ Good assembly

+ Cut to fit rubber strap

+ Ronda quartz movement

+ 20 ATM

+ Sapphire Crystal

Cons:

– Slight bezel misalignment and play

– “05” that reads like “50” on the bezel

– Tritium pip is too small

– Bezel pip does not have enough contrast

Isaac Despain is a watch designer and Head of Design at Fine Timepiece Solutions USA.

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The Watches

TAG Heuer Launches Retro Gold Carrera

TAG Heuer launches a special edition, gold-cased Carrera chronograph with a debut dial design that echoes the famed Heuer reference 1158 CHN. Collectors might also spy a two-tone color palette of the John Player Special livery from Formula 1 in the 1970s and 1980s.

The new 18-karat gold TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph.

The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph sports a 42mm yellow gold case with matching gold pushers and crown. Its impressive black sunray brushed dial plays nicely with prominent gilded dial elements. The most spectacular of these elements are the two gilded gold chronograph sub-dials at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. TAG Heuer also plates the hands and indexes with matching yellow gold to heighten the retro luxury factor of the entire piece.

Through the clear sapphire back TAG Heuer makes visible its own Calibre Heuer 02, which is decorated with a customized black oscillating mass. With a vertical clutch and column wheel, the movement provides a power reserve of an impressive eighty hours. Finally, TAG Heuer matches the gold watch with a black alligator strap with a gold pin buckle. 

Price: $21,500.

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The Watches

Citizen Looks to Space With Starry Dialed Attesa

Citizen’s latest Attesa GPS watch highlights the watchmaker’s galactic inspiration with a full dose of Satellite Wave technology and a space-blue bezel and central bracelet links.

While Citizen is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Attesa collection with this debut, the watchmaker makes no secret that its designers gazed into space as they designed the new watch. Most directly, the watch’s eye-catching, star-flecked dial anticipates Citizen’s collaboration with the Hakuto-R lunar exploration program.

The Citizen Attesa 35th Anniversary watch.

Citizen, which provided the Hakuto-R exploration program with Super Titanium components to be used in the legs of the Series 1 Lander, applies the same coating on this model and on many of its higher-end models (including a few in the hot-selling Hakuto-R series.)

Super Titanium is Citizen’s proprietary alloy that creates a lightweight, anti-allergenic, scratch-resistant and rust-resistant case for the 44mm watch. Citizen applies its other high-tech coating, Duratect DLC, along the bracelet and on the bezel.

You’ll find the DLC blue coating decorating and protecting the bracelet along the center links of the titanium bracelet, between the glossy black Duratect DLC coating. A well-made fold-over clasp with button secures the bracelet.

Within all this high-tech material Citizen places its groundbreaking F950 movement to power the light-driven Eco-Drive Satellite Wave GPS functions. The watch is capable of receiving time signals in as little as three seconds, with the hour and minute hands moving twice as fast as previous models.

Of course, as a full-fledged GPS model, the watch hosts a deep set of advanced features, including world time in 27 cities (40 time zones), a chronograph, dual time zones, (UTC) universal coordinated time display, a perpetual calendar, as well as daylight savings time, and power reserve and light level indicators.

On the back of the watch Citizen commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Citizen Attesa collection.

Price: $3,550. 

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Featured News

Porsche Design Teams with Sotheby’s to Celebrate 50 Years  

To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, Porsche Design will auction a one-of-a-kind Porsche Design Chronograph 1 at Sotheby’s. The watch will be sold as a set with a meticulously restored 1972 Porsche 911 S 2.4 Targa “50 Years of Porsche Design Edition” unique-edition car.

The chronograph, built to mimic the original Porsche Design watch from 1972, is often considered the first all-black sports watch. It features a black dial with a red seconds hand and antireflective glass, both details inspired by the Porsche 911 instrument panel. In addition, the dial, crown, wristband, and case back bear the historic Porsche Design logo.

Porsche designed the restored 1972 Targa to pay tribute to the Porsche Design anniversary.

For the auction watch however, Porsche Design upped the vintage ante with another unique component. The movement’s rotor is designed to exactly echo the look of historical Fuchsfelge rims found on the 1972 Targa.

Porsche designed the car to pay tribute to the Porsche Design anniversary. It car features ‘Porsche Design’ lettering on both sides with a ‘50 Years of Porsche Design’ logo on the headrests. Even the dashboard echoes the theme with a silver-colored 911 plaque that reads ‘Edition 50 Years of Porsche Design’.

The auction, slated during Sotheby’s Luxury Week in New York from November 30th to December 14th, follows a six-month exhibition of both the car and the chronograph at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart just prior to being presented during Monterey Car Week in California this past August.

The two-week online auction will start on November 29 at 12pm EST and close on December 14, 2022 at 12pm EST. 

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