The media could not be loaded. The AL-555DGS4H6 model from the Swiss brand Alpina is a fine timepiece that would complement either a business casual ensemble or an adventure-worn leather jacket with jeans. The subtle, yet complicated, dial has a deep navy blue contrasted against an almost illuminated silver GMT bezel. The red second hand appears to continuously glide at a 4 Hz heartbeat. The time is easy to read. The aesthetic of this Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT speaks of business, style, and adventure. The in-house AL-555 automatic movement is a modified Alpina Sellita caliber. In particular, a jumping hour functionality has been added to the second position of the lower crown – clockwise advances the date and counter-clockwise jumps the hour hand forward without changing anything else. There are two weaknesses to this movement that must not be overlooked, however. The rotor is noisy. Tapping your finger gentle against the case will cause an audible clank inside the movement. Or even simply wearing this watch on your arm will cause the rotor to jingle and clank around inside the case. It doesn’t sound pleasing and could easily lead one to believe the movement was not assembled correctly or may be broken. Additionally, the watch being reviewed ran more than 20 seconds fast over a 24 hour period while being worn. This is well below the standards of higher-end Swiss brands such as Rolex. The dedicated screw down crown for the GMT dial is unique and works quite well functionally. The hours do not click into place as they would on the rotating dial of a Rolex GMT-Master II. Instead they are placed with precision with the turn of the crown. When this crown is pushed, the GMT dial gear is disengaged and the crown can be tightened into place without affecting the dial position. I am impressed with this beautiful design and tight engineering tolerances. Setting this watch consist of (1) winding the second crown in its default position to store energy into the spring, (2) pulling the crown to its third position that freezes the second hand, then set the GMT marker and minute hand position correctly while ignoring the position of the hour hand, (3) pushing the crown into its second position and setting the date by clockwise turns and then the hour hand by counter-clockwise turns, (4) and finally, pushing the crown back into its default position. Reading the GMT inner dial will reveal the time in Greenwich, London – assuming the GMT dial position reads 24 at the top. The dial can be rotated also. For example, Knoxville, TN is GMT -04:00. To track Knoxville, TN time, I would rotate the GMT dial clockwise 4 ticks. Not 20 would be at the top and the GMT dial will reveal Knoxville, TN time instead of Greenwich Mean Time. In this sense, multiple timezones can be tracked from the interface of the AL-555. The power reserve springs holds 38 hours of energy. Not quite long enough to last from a Friday evening to a Monday morning, but plenty for daily wear. A watch winder may be an appropriate accessory for this watch so that the time doesn’t need to be adjusted often. The leather band is made of high quality materials. The leather must be broken in on the wrist, so the first few days of wear may be slightly uncomfortable as the leather adjusts. After the band is broken in correctly, the contours and bend of the band provide a custom fit. The wrist buckle seems a bit awkward with its larger size, sharper right angle corners, and bold company branding. While the dial would pass, the strap buckle looks too casual for more formal business environments. In conclusion, Alpina has a solid product here that offers something unique to the consumer. Keeping the movement in-house gives this brand a lot of credibility. There is room for improvement, so I’d like to see Alpina continue to rise to the challenge of profitable horology. At this asking price, I won’t tolerate the rotor rattling around like a set of broken dishes – so five star product this is not. The AL-555 movement is not calibrated to, or perhaps not capable of, the time keeping precision of other Swiss brands such as Rolex. But with either a crisp sports jacket or a weather-worn leather flight jacket, this one is going to work.
