Before discussing some of these rather nice Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic replica watches, I want to once again discuss the notion of pilot replica watches overall. People often ask us about brands that offer reasonably priced pilot-style replica watches. It is honestly a good question, and one that we struggle to answer. One of the reasons for that is that it is often difficult to strictly define what a pilot replica watch is, as the concept is a bit more fluid than say the more specific requirements of a dive replica watch. Second is the notion that what “reasonably priced” means can really vary. You can get a pilot-style replica watch for a few hundred dollars, or you could spend in the tens of thousands (or more). So let’s focus for now on the concept of a reasonably priced mechanical pilot replica watch with a Swiss movement. Among the more established brands, Alpina actually has very decent offering.
Alpina pilot replica watches are segmented into a few categories, all under the larger Startimer collection. It can actually get a bit confusing, as you have the Startimer Pilot Automatic, Pilot, Pilot Manufacture, Pilot Classic, and Pilot Heritage product ranges. For now, I’ll stick to talking about some Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic replica watches, as that is what you’ll see pictured here. These each contain Swiss automatic movements produced by third parties such as Sellita. The Pilot Manufacture collection, by contrast, has movements made by Alpina (and parent company Frederique Constant), and collections like the Pilot have Swiss quartz movements in them.
I’ve seen Alpina’s Startimer Pilot replica watches evolve over the years and think that they have hit a positive stride by this point. Detailing and legibility are good, and the overall presentation of the timepiece is just really attractive, with a lot of options available. In a nutshell, you have a solid traditional Pilot replica watch style, with a bit of Alpina design DNA, at comparatively reasonable prices. Prices for a 40mm wide Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic on a strap start at about $1,300, and case sizes are available in both a 40mm wide, as well as 44mm wide.
In addition to the three-hand automatic, we also have bi-compax automatic chronograph models. It is sometimes hard to do a chronograph with the traditional pilot replica watch dial, but I think Alpina does it pretty well in the Alpina Startimer Pilot Chronograph. The Alpina red triangle logo further adds some color and personality to the dials as the counterweight on either the seconds hand or chronograph seconds hand.
One of the more recent upgrades to the Alpina Startimer Pilot replica watch collection (at least some models) are the applied hour markers. Framed with a polished metal finish and filled with lume, the hour markers significantly upgrade the look over more “flat” pilot replica watch dials and also assist with legibility. You see this in both the three-hand and chronograph Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic models, and it is an aesthetic feature that really helps me enjoy the collection as much as possible.
These “enhanced” dials are better on the 44mm wide Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic models that have the “Sunstar” style dials. The 40mm wide models have applied hour marker with flatter Arabic number hour markers next to them. One of the reasons that I like the larger 44mm wide models is because the dials have a peripheral chapter ring, which is darker in color, and then a ring of applied Arabic hour markers. The black colored dial version of the Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic in either the 40 or 44mm wide size is a bit more traditional in style with a flatter dial. It serves to be the most conservative of the Alpina Startimer Pilot family, but for more personality, there are a lot of other options.