A milestone in Alpina's history came in 1933 in the form of the robustly sporty Alpina “Blockuhr” with its innovative steel case and patented sealed winding and setting crown. In 1938, a significant development of the collection led to the ground-breaking “Alpina 4” with its highly durable stainless steel case.
As early as 1934, the massive military armament in Germany called for very different kinds of timepieces. For example, in addition to high-precision sea chronometers and navigators' watches, stop-watches and wall clocks, the Kriegsmarine also needed service watches with clearly legible dials and hands. These timepieces were required by the Admiralty for officers and ordinary ranks, who required more precise coordination on timing. Wristwatches were introduced primarily for military missions that required free hands and rapid reading of the time through a simple turn of the wrist.
Alpina was well known for reliability and precision, and was naturally one of the suppliers for the German Kriegsmarine, alongside other brands. Their service wristwatches, many of which have been through a very turbulent history, enjoy great popularity in collectors' circles.
As is to be expected, there is a very limited supply of Alpina service wristwatches in acceptable condition. In addition, authentic pieces from the 1930s and 1940s have a notable disadvantage, judged by today's proportions. Their case diameters ranged from just 32 to about 35 millimetres. Reason enough for Alpina to create new interpretations of these historical wristwatches.
For the design basics of the cases, dials and hands of the new KM-710, the product designers took a good look at the sought-after originals. Beyond that, these timepieces are in every respect up to today's standards. Unlike the luminescent radium used in the early models, the Super-LumiNova luminescent material used on the dial and hands is completely safe and of exceptional quality. The stainless steel case with a contemporary thickness of 41,5 millimetres and screwed case back is water-resistant to 5 bars (50m).
The in-house AL-710 automatic calibre can be considered as a particular refinement. The form of the black-coated ball bearing rotor that oscillates back and forth is an unmistakable reminder of the significant pendulum rotor of the Alpina 582 Manufacture calibre introduced in 1949. Decorated with Côtes de Genève and circular-graining, it has a diameter of 30.5 mm and a depth of 6,3 millimetres. All the bridges and cocks are bevelled and rhodium-finished. When the watch has been fully wound, 42 hours of power reserve are available. The large glucydur balance has a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour. Three central hands indicate the hours, minutes and seconds. The nostalgic look also calls for the date hand to be positioned at 6 o'clock.
