lpina presents two new timepieces with a nautical feel – ideal to keep that summer holiday feeling alive. The Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic range, already a pillar of the Seastrong collection, now includes two new variations.

The first goes for a vintage look with the hour markers, minute circle and hand tips on the customary black dial done out in ‘old radium’, a luminous colour typical of the 1920s and 30s, while the second sports a khaki dial that adds a more robust, overland adventure feel while losing nothing of the seafaring ethos. Both models retain the 39-millimetre steel case mounted on a rubber strap, and are powered by an automatic movement.

In the world of watchmaking, every detail counts. A difference in case diameter of just two millimetres results in a very different feel on the wrist; merely adding a grip to the crown is enough to conjure up a sense of adventure; the same logic applies to any changes to hour markers, hand tips or the minute circle. And indeed, Alpina leveraged each of these aspects when creating this new identity for its iconic Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic. In doing so the brand has achieved its goal of giving a genuine dive watch – water resistant to 300 metres – a vintage air that’s currently much in demand by collectors.

The piece’s diameter makes its own indirect contribution to this aim. Ever since Alpina began adding watches with the smaller diameter of 39mm alongside those in the collection’s original 41mm format, the dive watch spirit of the Sixties has really come to the fore. Alpina’s choice of the ‘old radium’ colour for the hour and minute markers further strengthens the period look – one that’s no stranger to a brand originally founded in 1883.

To further enhance the visual sense of consistency, every aspect of the display gets the same ‘vintage’ treatment, starting with all three hands. A luminous coating has been applied to the tip of the hour and minute hands and in a first for the brand, the centre of the counterweight on the seconds hand. The broad, luminous hour and minute hands are designed to make telling the time an effortless undertaking even when underwater in poor light; the timepiece’s screw-down crown and unidirectional bezel also bear witness to its maritime vocation.

The hour and minute markers reflect the same approach on the part of Alpina, their outsize design reflecting the same priority of making it easy to read the time; in the Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic collection, they also sport two distinguishing features: a triangular hour marker at twelve o’clock, symbolising the alpine summits and embodying the Geneva-based brand’s visual identity, and a date window at the six o’clock position. To ensure the latter can be read clearly, Alpina has cleverly placed a luminous segment beneath the window – a dive feature that very few brands bother to include. The third and final aspect of the time display is a minute circle in the same ‘old radium’ colour, non-luminous here. The attention to detail goes right down to the identical colour being used for the ‘Alpina 1883 Genève’ and ‘Automatic’ wording.

The second new variation features all the same specifications, including the frosted dial, here done out in khaki. This alternative has a more operational feel, beckoning the Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic dive watch landward. Indeed, outdoor expeditions (another of Alpina’s favourite environments) are clearly in view in the other characteristics of both these new releases: a robust textured rubber strap and deployment clasp, securing a satin-polished steel case topped by a ceramic unidirectional bezel – ready for any adventure.