- Alpina Watches
Infobox_Company
company_name = Alpina Watch International SA
company_type =Aktiengesellschaft
company_
foundation =1883 by Gottlieb Hauser
location_city =Geneve
location_country = Switzerland
industry =Watch manufacturing
products = Wristwatches
homepage = [http://www.alpina-watches.com/ alpina-watches.com]Alpina Watches International SA is a manufacturer of wrist
watch es based in Plan-les-Ouates,Geneva ,Switzerland . The company was founded in 1883 [ [http://watch-wiki.de/index.php?title=Alpina Watch-Wiki Alpina] ] by Gottlieb Hauser, watchmaker in Winterthur, who founded the Swiss Watchmakers Corporation ("Union Horlogère Suisse"). A number of watchmakers joined to purchase watch components and organized their manufacturing. All representatives of Union Horlogère 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.Everything ran well until the seventies, when the quartz crises violently crushed the Swiss watch-industry. Alpina was powerless to counter the overwhelming 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, Alpina Watch International SA was incorporated with new German investors, which purchased all shares in Alpina Union Horlogère SA. In 2002, Alpina Watch International SA was acquired by Frederique Constant SA and Alpina watches were relaunched worldwide.Named "Régulateur 1883" in reference to the year Alpina was founded, Alpina introduced a new model in 2005 as a fitting tribute to the long and rich tradition of the Geneva-based brand. The "regulator" dial is distinguished by the off-centred hour display at 10 o'clock, an exclusive Alpina feature. [ [http://www.swisstime.ch/pgs/rwi-pgs-prod-lgs-en-idp-1227.html?title=Swiss Time] ]
In 2008, Alpina Genève celebrated its 125th anniversary with the inauguration of the first movement to be made entirely in its own workshops. [cite web| url = http://www.swisstime.ch/pgs/rwi-pgs-prod-lgs-en-idp-1634.html| title = Swiss Time News 2008| accessmonthday = September 19| accessyear = 2008| language = English]
Notes
External links
* [http://www.alpina-watches.com Alpina website]
* [http://www.libertyhaven.com/countriesandregions/swiss/marketstime.shtml Swiss Watch History]
* [http://www.mattbaily.ca Alpina retailer]ources
* [http://www.fhs.jp/News/english/AlpinaDec02.htm The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry(FH) Information Center]
* [http://www.timezone.com/library/news/news631762747113281250 Timezone Article]
* [http://www.internationalwatchclub.com/alpina-watches/ International Watch Club]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
