Alpina

Alpina traces its origin to 1883, when Gottlieb Hauser founded a cooperative of independent Swiss watchmakers that pooled the purchase and development of components; it later operated as the Alpina Union Horlogère, based in Biel. The Alpina name was registered as a trademark in 1901, at first for the union's own calibres, and the red triangle emblem still in use dates from the brand's early years. In 1938 the company introduced the Alpina 4, a watch built around four requirements — antimagnetic, shock-resistant, water-resistant and cased in stainless steel — that set its sports-watch direction for decades.

The brand was acquired in 2002 by Frédérique Constant, founded by Peter Stas and Aletta Stas-Bax, and has since been made in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. Since 2016 both brands have belonged to Citizen Watch Co. of Japan. Today's collections are the Alpiner (mountain sports), Seastrong (diving) and Startimer (aviation) lines, some of them fitted with manufacture calibres developed within the group.