Alpiner 4 Automatic GMT

From Alpina -

Courtesy of Alpina

While it is true that several high end brands are offering watches certified as anti-magnetic, water resistant and possibly even with a GMT feature, to my knowledge there are none offering all of these features in the quality of finish that Alpina is at the price points Alpina operates at.  So the new Alpiner 4 Automatic GMT is a very welcome addition.  

Courtesy of Alpina

It is available with a black dial or silver dial, and if it is half as nice as the pictures, then this is perhaps the most beautiful time keeper of its kind.

Or to put it in Tempus Fugit "speak":

It's the shit that killed Elvis!

Here are the pertinents -

Alpiner 4 Automatic GMT 

Reference                        

AL-550GRN5AQ6

Courtesy of Alpina

Movement                               

Automatic, 26 jewels, 38H power reserve, 28’800 Ah

Functions                               

Anti-Magnetic, ISO764 certified to 4800 A/m.

Anti-Shock

Hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT 24H

360° turning compass bezel

Case                                       

Stainless steel case, 44 mm diameter

Bi-directionnal turning bezel

Sapphire crystal

10 ATM (330ft) Water-resistant

Dial                                        

Black sunray dial with applied luminous indexes

Date window at 3’

Nickel hands with white luminous and Red GMT

Strap                                       

Black genuine leather strap with red lining

 

Reference                               

AL-550SRN5AQ6

Courtesy of Alpina

Movement                               

Automatic, 26 jewels, 38H power reserve, 28’800 Ah

Functions                               

Anti-Magnetic, ISO764 certified to 4800 A/m.

Anti-Shock

Hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT 24H

360° turning compass bezel

Case                                       

Stainless steel case, 44 mm diameter

Bi-directionnal turning bezel

Sapphire crystal

10 ATM (330ft) Water-resistant

Dial                                       

Silver sunray dial with applied luminous indexes

Date window at 3’

Nickel hands with white luminous

Strap   
Brown genuine leather strap with red lining

OMEGA announces the first truly anti-magnetic watch movement

Just a small, insignificant, minor announcement ; )

OMEGA has announced the creation of a watch that is resistant to magnetic fields greater than 1.5 tesla (15,000 gauss), far exceeding the levels of magnetic resistance achieved by any previous watch and solving a problem that has challenged watchmakers for centuries.

Courtesy of OMEGA

The movement was introduced at a press conference at the Cité du Temps in Geneva on January 17th by Raynald Raynald Aeschlimann, OMEGA Vice President and member of Swatch Group’s Extended Group Management Board. Mr Aeschlimann opened the press conference, welcoming the media and introducing Jean-Claude Monachon, OMEGA Vice President and Head of Product Development, Michel Willemin, CEO of ASULAB, Thierry Conus, the Director of Research & Development at ETA and Mathieu Oulevey, a Tribology and Materials engineer at ETA.  

Courtesy of OMEGA

In his opening remarks at the press conference, Mr Aeschlimann gave credit to Swatch Group’s unique ability to benefit from the contributions of the best engineers and researchers from all of its brand and companies. He added, “All of the heroes are here – not only my colleagues from OMEGA but from ASULAB and ETA. It was only through their shared creativity and enthusiasm that we could introduce this important innovation to you.”      

Courtesy of OMEGA

The technlogy developed by the team led to the first prototype of the movement, which has been fitted in an OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra. Unlike other efforts to combat the effects of magnetism, the OMEGA movement does not rely on a protective container inside the watchcase but on the use of selected non-ferrous materials in the movement itself. Several patents are pending for the new movement.

Courtesy of OMEGA

Jean-Claude Monachon reminded the attendees at the press conference of OMEGA’s long history of technological innovation, showing slides of highlights going back to 1894. He went on to point out that magnetism has always been an issue for watchmakers, adding that magnets are now more present in our daily lives than they have ever been before. Watchmakers have to deal regularly with the issue of magnetism, as it is necessary for them to demagnetize mechanical watches whose performance has been compromised by exposure to magnetic fields, a problem that will be solved with the new movement.

Courtesy of OMEGA

He explained that G. N. Hayek, the CEO of Swatch Group, challenged OMEGA to create a totally non-magnetic watch and announced that OMEGA, with engineers, scientists and metallurgists from its sister companies had met the challenge.

Michel Willemin’s presentation focused on issues of magnetism in daily life. He gave members of the press a brief primer on magnets and magnetism and pointed out that the evolution of the strength of permanent magnets was a key motivation behind the development of the movement.



Courtesy of OMEGA

Thierry Conus explained how magnetism had been dealt with previously, including inner cases designed to limit the effect of magnetism. He pointed out the limitations of the approach including the facts they couldn’t handle the challenge of the increased strength of permanent magnets and that, from an aesthetic standpoint, they block the view of the movement. He then showed a short film showing how a conventional mechanical watch exposed to high levels of magnetism stopped immediately and dramatically lost its accuracy. The OMEGA prototype was subjected to even higher levels of magnetism (15,000 gauss) and continued to perform. Testing showed that the watch was as accurate after its magnetic exposure as it had been before.

A live demonstration was then made that offered compelling and conclusive evidence that OMEGA’s new >15,000 gauss movement is a landmark development in watchmaking.



Courtesy of OMEGA



www.omegawatches.com