Hello guys, may I ask for your advice? I found rare 1960 Alpina 10 diver after years of searching. Comes from original owner with unbelievable diving history explained below. According to the original owner watch has never been serviced. Although watch keeps precise time, I sent it to Richard Askham to UK for complete service and cleaning. The only thing I am not sure about: shall I got the crystal polished or leave it as it is? Not sure. Thanks for your opinion. Tomas
Story behind: This Alpina watch comes from Sweden. I found it on some swedish website. I cannot believe the story I discovered after I bought it. Alpina belonged to a nowadays 72 years old diver Ingemar (still living and doing well) that got the watch in 1962 from his father at the age of 16. And now comes the funny part. This Alpina 10 watch has hundreds of dives on its crystal. Ingemar used it also when diving on the wrecks of german SS Antares in the early sixties. He and his friends were the first to dive on this wreck of cargo ship that was sunk by the British submarine HMS Sunfish on April 1940 after the German invasion of Norway. Ingemar was only 16 years old, with his Alpina on his wrist. It were very risky dives, often strong current, bad sight, as wrecks rests at a depth of 53 meters on a bottom of mud. Back then Ingemar and his friends had to ask local fishermen where to seek for the wreck. Ingemar was one of the pioneers in sportsdiving in Sweden and Alpina was part of the story. After 56 years it is great to see that this Alpina diver watch did exactly what it was meant to. And it did resist it very well. Because the story continues. The watch was in drawer since 1985. So it was laid still for last 33 years. Until I got it few weeks ago. And watch is running smoothly, beeing late only 3 seconds a day. Does anybody else have Alpina 10 Diver?
Do I see cracks in the acrylic? If so, polishing the crystal would not be preferable to replacing it, IMO. Let the technician suggest the best course of action.
I am not an expert, but it looks like thousands little scratches, but no cracks. Lets see what watchmaker says, but he said he leaves decision with me. He already said, that the watch has the internal bezel and it needs a specific crystal which were discontinued decades ago and are really hard to find now.
Given the interesting history you have discovered I would leave it as is, and I usually like to replace crystals. Wear those scuffs with pride, could imagine it being a bit of a conversation piece also when people comment on the state of it.
Great story on that watch! Thanks for sharing... Definitely keep the storied crystal, but if your WM can source a replacement, you might quite like being better able to see a clear view of that wonderful dial, as well.
Personally I would polish the crystal. However, you make the decision that is right for you. Either way enjoy!!!!!
This is actually a good idea. I was only deciding polish / not to polish. But if the watchmaker would be able to find replacement one, this way I could keep original story and have a nice dial. thanks
Richard Askham is top shelf. I would go with his recommendation. If he can replace, simply keep the existing crystal, so you have the full original watch.
Knowing the history of the watch I'd leave the crystal as is. If I ran across this watch and knew nothing about its history I'd polish it at least enough to improve its utility. Its not so badly scarred that you'd have trouble reading the dial. Underwater you wouldn't see the scratches at all, except perhaps in a strong flood light. I would make sure its resealed properly even if you don't plan to take it into the water. Some one else might many years from now, or you might end up getting wet by accident with all the flooding we keep reading about these days.
thanks, I will get back to him and ask him, if he can source the new one. If not, I decided to keep it all original, no polishing. Thank you all.
Alpina has reissued this watch as the "Sea Strong". The new rendition is slightly different. Be nice if the Saphire crystals of the new version could be fitted to the original. I wonder if there is some connection between this watch and the SEIKO Alpinist? Both use an internal bezel.
Yeah, I would try to source a new/used crystal and leave that one untouched. In the 3rd (last) photo it looks like there’s a crack near the tip of the 3 o’clock hand.
yes, it needs a specific crystal. As Richard says: "I've restored quite a few compressors now and replacing the crystal is one of the hardest things to do. As the watch has the internal bezel it needs a specific crystal which were discontinued decades ago and are really hard to find now, so hopefully your pictures make the crystal look worse than it is and the visible marks are only scratches that can be polished out."
Yes, this one is nice too. Like the lollipop hand very much, like the patina on your watch. It is very similar to Alpina and other ones. But I decided for Alpina, as it is more difficult to find. So far I saw like up to five of them. Hamilton diver is more common, available even now with known and respected online dealers. Knightsbridge auctioned one recently too.