Back in the spring of this year, Alpina relaunched their Startimer Pilot collection with a full visual overhaul and upgraded movements from La Joux-Perret. Now they’re releasing a second sub-series that introduces Solarmetre movements to the range, powered by natural or artificial light. Alongside the new movements, the case sizing has also been downsized, making them even more versatile.
Starting with the changes to the case, it measures 38mm. That’s a reduction of 2mm compared to the 40mm Startimer Pilot Automatic. To coincide with that, the thickness has also been reduced to 9.32mm, which is possible because the Solarmetre movement inside means there’s no need to accommodate a bulky automatic rotor. Two of the models feature standard steel while the third has a sand brown PVD finish.
On the wrist it does feel significantly smaller, especially because I’m used to pilot’s watches being one of the larger tool watch archetypes. At this size, it highlights the similarities between pilot’s watches and field watches because they both prioritise similar things such as legibility and precision but with different requirements for case sizing. Field watches tend to be smaller because they consider mobility and comfort while running around in the field while a pilot’s watch can afford to be larger because they’re designed to be worn in the cockpit. In practical terms, both 40mm and 38mm are suitable for daily wear but 38mm does open the door to collectors who prefer smaller dimensions.
While the cases have been downsized, aesthetically they’re more or less identical to the Automatic editions. The same is true for the dials, which feature the Alpina triangle logo in place of the 12 o’clock hour marker and clean, legible Arabic numerals everywhere else. The colours on offer are black, blue and sand brown with the latter being the pairing with the PVD case variant. Because they house solarmetre movements, the dials are translucent so that light can pass through them and charge the solar cells.
If you discount the case size there are a couple of ways to identify which models are automatic and which are solar quartz just by looking at the dials. Obviously, the inscription ‘solarmetre’ is the biggest giveaway but there is a more subtle difference too. The Alpina logo is a red triangle and is depicted as such on the automatic but to highlight the solar quality of the new series, the red has been swapped for sky blue. You know, because the sky is where the sun is.
The solar quartz movement powering the watch is the AL-140, which provides 10 months of continuous run time if you fully charge it and then lock it away in a light-less box. However, if you don’t do that, the watch will essentially never run out of power, making it very convenient and sustainable. It’s the same movement used in the Alpina Alpiner Solarmetre collection and was produced in partnership with La Joux-Perret, who are the Citizen Group’s solar quartz experts.
For pricing, the blue and black dial editions are £995 while the PVD coated sand version is £1,095. That’s only £200 less than the Automatic editions with equivalent case finishes. That does make them quite expensive for quartz watches but the argument is that with the involvement of LJP and solar technology, these are higher quality than your average quartz model. I think that argument does ultimately hold up because of the brands innovating with quartz and electrical technology, you’d put Grand Seiko, Citizen Group (specifically La Joux-Perret) and perhaps Accutron at the top of the list.
Price and Specs:
More details at Alpina.
