verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message alpina watch international sa type aktiengesellschaft industry watch manufacturing founded 1883 by gottlieb hauser headquarters geneve switzerland products wristwatches website alpina watches.com alpina watches international sa is a manufacturer of luxury watches based in plan les ouates geneva switzerland . the company was founded in 1883 1 by gottlieb hauser a watchmaker in winterthur who founded the swiss watchmakers corporation union horlog re suisse . it is currently owned by fr d rique constant . chronom tre alpina union horlog re 1910 contents 1 history 2 marketing 3 references 4 external links 5 sources history edit a number of watchmakers joined together as the union horlog re suisse to purchase watch components and organize their manufacturing . all representatives of union horlog re depended on the association which aimed to sell high quality watches under the alpina brand . quickly the new concept gained acceptance . together with qualified manufactures the association started to develop its own calibres and to enlarge its distribution network . in 1912 the first alpina chronometer glash tte was finalized and this model competed directly against the watch making artistry of the likes of a. lange & sohne who even went so far as to take alpina to court unsuccessfully . gottlieb hauser . the company generally managed its business well until the 1970s when quartz watch movements emerged and had a severe effect on the entire swiss watch industry . alpina was unable to counter the emergence of electronic watches . other major brands got together to form groups predecessor of the swatch group but alpina tried to fight it alone without really succeeding . in 1972 struggling alpina watch international sa was incorporated with new german investors which purchased all shares in alpina union horlog re sa and settled the company in koln germany limiting its distribution to the german market . in 2002 alpina watch international sa was acquired by fr d rique constant sa returning the company to switzerland and alpina watches were relaunched worldwide . 2 named r gulateur 1883 in reference to the year alpina was founded alpina introduced a new model in 2005 . the regulator dial is distinguished by having an off centred hour display at 10 o clock an exclusive alpina feature . 3 in 2008 alpina gen ve celebrated its 125th anniversary with the inauguration of the first movement to be made entirely in its own workshops . 4 5 alpina first introduced its 4 line of sports watches in 1938 bringing together four themes anti magnetism anti shock water resistance and stainless steel construction . the alpina 4 was one of the very first swiss sports watches to appear helping to set the tone for following generations . in 2014 alpina brought this concept back with the introduction of the new alpiner 4 watches available in both gmt and chronograph models . the new watches cover all four of the original requirements first set forth in 1938 . 6 7 1883 gottlieb hauser founds the alpina union horlog re s.a. uh schweizerische uhrmacher genossenschaft sug corporation of swiss watchmakers . his vision was the alpinist principle uniting swiss watchmaking industry forces to achieve the highest quality and technical innovation in manufacturing at the most favourable conditions . soon the union was making its own calibers . 1890 the union moves its headquarters to biel bienne where jacob straub an important member had his caliber manufactory j. straub & co . the bauches at that time were made by the alpina ebauches factory owned by duret & colonnaz in geneva . 1900 the alpina union horlog re participates to the 1900 universal exposition in paris and displays its calibers and creations to a cosmopolitan and distinguished public . 1901 the mark alpina is registered by jacob straub to protect his 12 and 19 line calibers unmarked until then . being j. straub & co. its main caliber supplier almost all high end watches of the union now carry the famous triangular alpina mark on their movements . alpina as a standalone name was therefore first used as a protection and quality mark for exceptional movements . 1903 gottlieb hauser and his son go on an adventurous mission to russia to establish a foothold in the empire of the tsars . they succeed at the end of their 50 successive day s trip their ledgers are filled with the names of surprisingly many new customers including some famous ones . in1955 gottlieb hauser jr. wrote an account of this voyage from bienne to astrakhan the adventures of a swiss watch representative in russia fifty years ago . 1908 on occasion of its 25th anniversary the union registers the alpina brand name for timepieces . for prestige reason the union members the alpinists agreed to use the brand alpina only for watches that encased selected high quality calibers amongst them those with breguet hairsprings and compensating balances . as was de rigueur in this epoch a strong name also needed a distinctive symbol ; the legendary alpina red triangle emblem the alpiner was born . 1909 the alpina union horlog re expands its watch manufacturing to germany and founds the pr cisions uhrenfabrik alpina glash tte i s in glash tte . the union s factories were by now located in geneva biel besan on f and glash tte the four world capitals of watchmaking . 1910 the alpina union horlog re creates a perpetual calendar pocket watch complication . a significant technical challenge for that epoch . 1913 the german navy k.m. purchases alpina chronometers . an alpina 21 lines glash tte chronometer equipped with an alpina chronometer ebauche with glash tte escapement instead of the typical swiss anchor escapement was adopted as standard k.m. equipment to cover its need for high precision time instruments . 1915 the alpina union horlog re wins a gold medal at the swiss national exhibition . 1920 an unprecedented continuation of the success story began at the end of the first world war . about 2 000 dealers throughout europe sold alpina watches . alpina watches could be purchased in lisbon amsterdam copenhagen london stockholm and as far as santiago de chile . 1921 alpina becomes a renowned producer and supplier of time instruments for military pilots . 1926 alpina establishes an international watch guarantee . the guarantee was first introduced for switzerland in 1908 and in 1926 became valid throughout the world . alpina s comprehensive international guarantee system the first of its kind confirmed the internationality and marketing savvy of the brand as well as the high quality and reliability of alpina watches . 1929 alpina and american company gruen enter into a joint venture with the purpose of getting access to their respective distribution networks and production facilities . the partnership gave birth to the alpina tecno encasing the famous 877 caliber . the tecno advertising brochure used the following words the new tecno chronometer wristwatch boasts a trailblazing movement and shows the exact time in seconds for physicians engineers technicians transit officials merchants and athletes . 1933 alpina presents its first sports watch the block uhr . it sported a sturdy all steel case and a patented a new type of crown brevet 1464 . the innovation consisted of a very close fitting connection between the crown and the winding stem to prevent dust from penetrating . moreover the crown could not be torn out or lost . in 1938 the alpina 4 evolved from this first sport watch due to rapid technical progress . 1938 alpina introduces the legendary alpina 4 . the number 4 alluded to the four essential qualities of a sports watch 1 antimagnetic 2 water resistant 3 anti shock and 4 a stainless steel highly robust case . the alpina 4 philosophy revolutionised the sports watch and the robust to the extreme alpina 4 became the watch of choiche for sport and professional activities in unnatural and potentially dangerous environments for man the mountain the air and the sea . the alpina 4 was equipped with one of the sturdiest watch engines of its generation the hand wound alpina 592 calibre . 1945 alpina manufactures its first automatic movement . the 12 ligne 5.5 mm tall self winding caliber 582 also known as the p82 had a sub dial for the seconds at 6 o clock and a power reserve of 40h . 1948 the school of watchmaking at the cantonal polytechnic in biel chooses the 12 lines hand wound alpina caliber 592 to serve as the school s didactic caliber . this choice underscores the fact that this movement was especially precise reliable and robust . 1953 alpina celebrates its 70th anniversary with the introduction of the alpina 70 sport watch encasing the 592 and 598 calibers . the alpina 70 boasted the 4 alpina sport features anti shock anti magnetic water resistant stainless steel case and a beautiful faceted golden alpiner adorned its dial . 1957 the alpina president is revealed . the president is the company s first sports automatic ; using the 584 hammerautomatik 17 jewels self winding caliber . 1959 alpina introduces the alpina 4 chronograph . the dial featured a telemeter and a units meter making it ideal for sports and industrial applications . 1963 alpina realises an automatic movement for women the caliber 362 6 lines ; the smallest and strongest yet made . it worked with a rotor system turning in both ways . in the same year alpina also presents the comtesse ladies line . 1968 launch of the alpina tropic proof . this elegant sport watch with a qualit geneve case featured the 4 alpina sport characteristics 1 anti shock 2 anti magnetic 3 water resistant 4 stainless steel case . at the time the tropic proof was advertised as the gran tourisme of the sport watches . 1969 launch of the alpina diver 10 seastrong . this professional diving watch was moved by a17 jewel automatic self winding caliber . the 10 seastrong featured 2 crowns one of which was used to determine the decompression time through a 1 60 min . rotating bezel . the seastrong was water resistant to 200m and anti magnetic . 1970 alpina launches the dispomatic automatic alarm encasing a modified 19 jewels 2980 lemania caliber with 21600 a h. despite the growing demand for quartz watches in this period mechanical watches remained alpina s vocation . 1982 2002 the quartz crisis strongly hit european and american mechanical watchmakers ; alpina suffered but remains an independent company . after the devastating effects of the quartz wave alpina missed the renaissance of mechanical watches which began in the mid 1980s perhaps because the new german owners were too far removed from the swiss epicenter . for years the brand drifted without a clear direction . fortunately at the eleventh hour when alpina seemed inexorably on its way toward the watchmaking archives dutch entrepreneur peter stas came onto the scene and discovered the swiss tradition sport watch brand and its significant horological history and legacy . 2002 alpina was bought by aletta and peter stas the owners of fr d rique constant . identifying with the alpinist principle they set out to further the swiss sport watch manufacturing vision of gottlieb hauser . 2003 alpina presents its first collection of mechanical sports watches under the new ownership at the baselworld international watch fair . 2005 introduction of the al 650 regulator hand wound movement based on the famous unitas ebauche which was originally a caliber for pocket watches . launch of the professional alpina extreme diver water resistant to 1.000 m 3.280 ft . the extreme diver features a helium escape valve and uncommon for watches going to these extreme depths a transparent sapphire