Gnomon Watches — an online watch retailer specializing in accessibly-priced mechanical pieces — has added a new Alpina model to its website. Dubbed the Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT, the new model which packs a mechanical GMT movement at a low price, not to mention a spot-on retro design. While it has shown up on the Gnomon website, it hasn’t appeared elsewhere online, and an Alpina spokesperson confirms that the watch won’t officially debut until August. Still, we can glean lots of information on the timepiece from Gnomon’s listing.
The Startimer is powered by Alpina’s AL-550 (which based on a Sellita movement), an automatic with a true GMT function. But rather than having an additional hour hand for the GMT function, the movement drives a disc at the center of the dial, indicating the second time zone. The movement sits in a very 1970s-looking tonneau-shaped case that comes in a 42mm and 12mm thick. The retro vibes continue on the dial, which comes in three colors: a dark Glacier Blue, a lighter Sunset Blue and Salmon. All three have a beautiful metallic sheen and pair with an orange seconds hand and a boxed crystal that really do make the watches look like they were plucked right from the ’70s.
In fact, the watch looks like faithful remake of an Alpina watch from the ’70s called the Dispomatic. The Dispomatic was actually an alarm watch, not a GMT, but the new watch’s GMT disc convincingly takes the place of the Dispomatic’s alarm function. Otherwise, the case, dial and even the hands look like authentic recreations of the original.
Right now the watch is listed as “Out of Stock” on Gnomon’s website, so you might be waiting a bit until you can purchase it. When you can, though, the watch is listed as only costing $1,080, making it one hell of a deal for a mechanical GMT. In fact, you’d have a hard time finding another mechanical GMT at the same price with the same level of attention-to-detail and high-end finishing.
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