Alpina Introduces the Alpiner Heritage Manufacture KM-710

Late last week, Alpina announced the Alpiner Heritage Manufacture KM-710, a vintage inspired timepiece based on service watches the firm produced for the German military throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s.

The Alpiner Heritage isn’t exactly a novel addition to Alpina’s catalogue. Previous iterations have included aesthetically similar pieces boasting a range of movements—some ETA-based and some in-house, as well as several chronographs, including one with an in-house flyback chronograph caliber.

The watches from the ’30s/’40s were small, measuring approximately 33-35mm in diameter. The KM-710 is scaled up to a contemporary 41.5mm, with a thickness of around 13mm. The case features a mix of surface finishing–large brushed areas accented with highly polished rings and bevels.

A sapphire crystal case back exposes the attractive AL-710 caliber beating away within, which is based roughly on the architecture of the FC-710 caliber from Alpina’s sister brand, Frederique Constant. It’s a beautifully decorated movement with perlage and blued screws, a bridge with linear Côtes de Genève, a prominent balance, and a unique asymmetrical PVD rotor. The movement is fitted with 26 jewels, beats at 28,800 bph, and holds roughly 42 hours of power reserve.

The Alpiner Heritage Manufacture KM-710 takes a retro-inspired approach to the design, swapping polished applied indices for a printed silver dial accented with patina-toned lume. The dial is clearly meant to mimic the dial of a vintage watch, and it does so well. One significant point of aesthetic departure is the sub-dial. The original featured a small seconds counter at 6; the re-issue has a centrally mounted seconds hand with a date sub-dial in its place. It’s certainly a better application of the date function than we see on most re-issues, and it’s largely dependent on the functionality of the aforementioned AL-710 caliber.

The dial is exceptionally clean and designed for immediate legibility. The black Arabic numerals and railroad track contrast perfectly against the silver of the dial, and the pop of color from the lume and the red “31” on the sub-dial are a nice touch. Sitting atop the dial is a domed “glass-box” sapphire crystal—a nod to the crystals of the era.

My one point of contention is the appearance of K.M. 710 on the dial, a throwback to the naming convention used on many of the originals, with K.M. referencing Kriegsmarine, the navy of Nazi Germany, and 592 denoting the movement. Vintage watches are undeniably instruments of their time, and their history is therefore set in stone. Re-issues aren’t, and given the Kriegsmarine’s connection to one of the darkest periods of human history, it feels questionable to place K.M. on the dial of the re-issue, no matter how true-to-the-original the intention may be. With a watch that already has several fundamental functional differences, the use of K.M. here feels misguided.

The Alpina KM-710 is priced at €2495, approximately $2,782, and will be available on a leather band.