Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Alpha Since 1993

How do they do it? They make a stainless steel watch that looks like a (insert famous, expensive watch name here) with an automatic movement, presumably with Swiss machinery and Swiss testing devices, ship the watch 10,000 miles to your front door at no cost and charge a mere $35.99 and $60.99. They feel reasonably well made. They seem to be as water resistant as promised. And...

They are made in China by the Alpha Watch Co.

Despite the sometimes unflattering comments that I've read on some of the fora on the internet I am surprised at how many watch enthusiasts out there have Alpha watches. Some of these commentators actually have several. I have three, the Alpha Explorer, Alpha Triple Date Sun/Moon and the Automatic Regulator. Actually I have two now that I gave the Regulator to my wife who wears it several times a week to work. My remaining two Alpha watches are a steady part of the rotation and have been for the last two years. So far, so good. I should break my review into three parts: The case/bracelet, the face and the movement.

The case and bracelets of these two watches are stainless steel. I don't know what grade the steel is though. I did find that the back of the Triple Date developed a small blue spot. Unnoticeable when worn. I wasn't crazy about the brushed finish on the top of the case as I thought it looked uneven and rough. My solution was to polish the brushed finish right off with Cape Cod cloth. It didn't take very long to do so I suspect that the steel is pretty soft. The cases at the lugs of both watches are somewhat crudely finished with sharp edges. The steel bezels are polished and the crowns of both watches bear the Alpha "a". The bracelets are well made but feel a bit light. Overall, the complaints are minor and few. Remember, you're not going to get a Rolex for $35.99.

The crowns of both watches sport the Alpha "a".

The faces are well made as both have applied or raised hour markers. The Alpha Explorer has lume applied to the hands and hour markers while the Triple Date has none. The Explorer has a salmon colored face with no date function while the Triple Date has a silver face with day, date, month and sun/moon complications. Hence the $60.99 price for the Triple Date. Day, date and month are adjusted independently by push buttons in the watch case.

Side view showing the Day push button.

The movements are a mystery. Are they made by Sea-Gull, a China based watch movement company or what? The Triple Date has an exhibition caseback so I can see the number 98-1229 and 35 jewels. The caseback of the Explorer says YL98-12-29. Again, I don't have any definitive information on these movements, if these are indeed the movement calibers. I have observed that the second hands on both watches sweep smoothly without any lags or jumps.

The casebacks of the Alpha Explorer and Triple Date respectively. The Explorer movement uses 21 jewels while the Triple Date uses 35.

Performance is very acceptable with a loss of approximately 3 - 5 seconds per day. I did notice once that the Explorer lost five minutes in one day. I think that might have been because I set it wrong, did not wind the watch adequately or a combination of the two. Performance of any automatic movement can be affected by temperature, position or amount of time left idle.

All in all I'd buy them both again and would consider buying more Alpha watches in the future. They provide the watch enthusiast on a budget the opportunity to own a decently made, automatic watch that looks far more than it costs. And now the specs.:

Alpha Triple Date, Sun/Moon

Case Material: Stainless steel
Cas Back: Glass exhibition.
Case Size: 37.5mm without crown. 45mm lug to lug. 13mm thick.
Bracelet: 20mm stainless steel, Jubilee style. Non-solid end links.
Crystal: Domed acrylic.
Movement: Automatic, 35 jewels.
Water Resistance: 30 meters.
Weight: 106 grams
Current Price: $62.99 with Oyster style bracelet.

Alpha Explorer

Case Material: Stainless steel.
Case Back: Stainless steel.
Case Size: 35mm without crown. 44mm lug to lug. 12mm thick.
Bracelet: 20mm stainless steel. Oyster style. Non-solid end links.
Crystal: Flat glass (sapphire?)
Movement: Automatic, 21 jewels.
Water resistance: 30 meters.
Weight: 105 grams.
Current Price: $50.99.

You may also wish to check out AlphaUSA at http://alphawatchusa.com/

In the meantime I'm considering the Alpha Multi or the Newman or the Planet or the Daytona or the MilSub or the... well, you get the picture.

5 comments:

  1. Nice review. I own the triple date sun/moon black dial. Quality is unbelievable for the price point. These watches will certainly go up in price in the future as more and more folks become aware of them.

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  2. I agree that the Alpha watches will increase in price. They already are. Since the writing of the above post Alpha have discontinued several of their designs. I'm wondering if the discontinued models will appreciate in price since they are no longer available.

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  3. CPSL Steel is the Stainless Steel Cookwares manufacturers who makes cooking pan sets, indian Stainless Steel Cookwares.They are manufacturer of stainless steel cookware & Stainless steel pots and pans.

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  4. I own several alphas and have had great luck with them. I have had several for over 7 years am happy with the price to quality aspect and have recently broken my crystal on my favorite a 6 year old Explorer with a mother of pearl dial. I have had contact with Alpha Hong Kong and unfortunatly they no longer have parts for it so I cant have it repaired. I would like to purchase another but since they are not making them anymore dont know where to look....You wouldnt want to part with yours would you?
    jam200078155@yahoo.com

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  5. The prices really haven't increased that much. At least not as much as prices for other items have.

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