Alpina was founded in 1883 and turns 140 in 2023, so they’re Swiss offering two limited edition timepieces with new old stock movements that have been fully restored.

The Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years comes in a 29.5 x 9.71 mm (35.7 mm lug-to-lug) rectangular-shaped stepped stainless steel case and is offered with either a black or two-tone silvered and cream dial. Driving the hours, minutes, and small seconds for each piece is a circa 1938 restored manually wound 2.5Hz Alpina caliber 490 with 17 jewels and a 42-hour power reserve.

“It features a patented crown incorporating protection against dust – a key milestone, already making the case airtight and a first step on the way to the watertight case that would later become standard. The movement, protected by Swiss-registered patent no. 158882, is characterized by a simple, robust construction but no less perfectly finished for that: all of its components are beveled, and the ratchet is sun-brushed. It’s also worth noting that this is a genuine in-house caliber, designed, assembled, and finished by one of the firms in the Union Horlogère, Alpina’s original entity – a particularity seldom seen in the 1930s when generic ébauches (movement-blanks) were the market norm and manufacture movements the exception,” according to Alpina.

The dial of each Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years timepiece has throwback styling including Alpina’s historic logo, small printed Arabic numerals, slim centrally mounted leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, a “railtrack” minute circle, and a small second display at 6 o’clock.

Each version of the Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years (Ref. AL-490BA3C10 – black dial, AL-490SA3C10 – silvered dial) comes with a sapphire crystal on the front, a clear caseback, is rated to 30 meters of water resistance, is presented on a light brown ostrich strap with off-white stitching and a pin buckle closure, and is limited to just 14 pieces. Retail is approximately $5,455.