Worn & Wound
The Alpina Alpiner Extreme Automatic Gets a Thematically Appropriate Blue Dial
Alpina’a venerable Alpiner collection has no shortage of eye-catching dial textures, complications, and even experimental pizzazz. But perhaps what it was missing was a model that exemplified both the 1933 origins of the line and its future as an iconic Swiss sport watch. Enter the new Alpiner Extreme Automatic, sporting a dial color that makes so much sense, it’s a little baffling that Alpina hasn’t tapped into it before. The glacier blue hue of the face immediately conjures images of icy slopes, and the repeating Alpine summit triangle motif that texturizes the dial and brings the design straight to the Alps. The Alpiner Extreme Automatic also hangs onto distinctive design features that make it instantly recognizable: the rounded square cushion case, measuring at 39 x 40.5mm, in chilly steel. A vertical brushed satin finish on the bezel (matching that of the three links on the bracelet) contrasts the mirror-polished case, and the triangle motif can be found again on the six exposed screws that circle the bezel. A screw-down crown with a rubber ring of glacier blue both assures the Alpiner’s 200m water resistance, and brings a unified sense of color and form to the fringes of the design. A slightly-lighter blue outer minute track with white markers runs around the perimeter of the dial, adding some dimension to the face of the watch, while applied silver, luminous indexes mark the hours. A date window at 3 o’clock, hand-polished silver and luminous hour and mi...
