The New Alpiner Extreme Regulator Automatic is a Peak Performer for Alpina

Having already revived its Alpiner Regulator Automatic at the end of 2020, the Geneva-based brand Alpina is now bringing back its more rugged cousin, the Alpiner Extreme Regulator Automatic.

Seventeen years since the release of Alpina’s first Extreme Regulator, the new Alpiner Extreme Regulator Automatic boasts some reassuringly familiar traits of the original, including a clear regulator layout and assertive styled stainless-steel case.

But now, 41mm in diameter, the Alpiner Extreme Regulator Automatic’s case is far more compact and universally wearable and comes on a reworked, ergonomic rubber strap. What’s more is that the new textured, granite-gray dial plus navy-blue regulator sub-dials make for one of Alpina’s cleanest and most contemporary watch faces to date.

Founded in 1883 by Gottlieb Hauser and instantly recognizable thanks to its triangular, Alpine-peak logo, Alpina became an exemplar over the 20th century for sporty, robust timepieces designed for outdoor adventurers.

After a 30-year hiatus, the brand was resurrected in 2002 by Frederique Constant founders Peter and Aletta Stas. The pair of Dutch entrepreneurs identified with Hauser’s “Alpinist principle” and were intent on continuing his legacy of making reliable, professional watches engineered to withstand extreme environments.
 

One of the lines whose success helped put Alpina back on the watchmaking map was the brand’s regulator series, beginning in 2005 with the Avalanche Regulator, followed in the same year by the bolder, beefier Avalanche Extreme Regulator.

With the hours, minute, and second indications each presented in separate displays on the dial, Alpina rightly assumed that the clarity offered by the unambiguous regulator layout – born in the Age of Sail and at the dawn of the railway – would equally appeal to modern-day Alpine explorers. Then, gradually, Alpina extended its regulator line-up and replaced the “Avalanche” moniker with “Alpiner” as a reminder of the brand’s Alpine origins.
 

It’s not just the Alpiner Extreme Regulator Automatic’s body and face that have been updated; so have its mechanics.

Inside still beats a movement dubbed the AL-650 calibre. However, back in the mid-2000s, this reference was based on the hand-wound Unitas 6498. Now the AL-650 is, in essence, the automatic Sellita SW200.
 

Packing a 38-hour power reserve, it is a proverbial workhorse. Finally, the AL-650’s rhodium-finished bridges, gilded balance, and blackened winding rotor can be admired easily through the transparent display caseback.

The all-weather rubber strap is also blue to match the Alpiner Extreme Regulator Automatic’s predominant navy accents. According to the brand, the strap’s ergonomics have been revised so it will more easily adapt to the shape of the wrist for increased comfort. Featuring a textured central portion and integrating seamlessly with the case, the strap looks the part too.