Alpina 12 Hours of Sebring Automatic Chrono GMT

Here is the Baselworld pre-release from Alpina.  It is a sporty looking GMT chronograph that is a take on Alpina’s continued sponsorship of the 12 Hours of Sebring which is a very popular international car race held every year in Florida, USA.  More info after the jump!

While it is primarily on the lower/entry level of the luxury watch segment ($1,500 to $2,500 range), Alpina is an interesting brand in that is owned since 2002 by Aletta and Peter Stas, the owners/founders of watch brand Frederique Constant.  FC is a brand that has done relatively well over the past few years by delivering good, quality, not-too-flashy luxury watches at reasonable prices, and a similar disciplined growth strategy is surely in place at Alpina, though I don’t see it doing anything but trying to ramp volume while maintaining the same price segment. This said, I would expect the watch you see here watch to be priced north of $3,000 because it is a limited edition of 158 pieces…which, by the way – shouldn’t it be only 58 pieces as it is the 58th anniversay of the 12 Hours of Sebring Race- not the 158th?

While I think this watch is maybe a bit too generously sized at 47mm, it has a nice color scheme and I like the carbon fiber strap with red lining and stitching as well as the textured look of the center of the dial which keeps good with the sporty/racing nature of the watch.  The case is stainless steel and water resistant to 100 meters, and the movement is probably a reliable Swiss automatic (ETA or Valjoux-based Selitta-based) .  As for functionality, you will get GMT (24 hours) as well as 30 minute and 12-hour chonograph counters and the chronograph pushers are nicely shaped along the contours of the case, too.

One last interesting side note is that I recently discovered that the brand’s roots actually go back to Glashütte, Germany but it ended up a Swiss brand in the end (you can read the full history here).