# Alpha 24hr



## Dapper

I've just ordered this Alpha 24hr. It has a cutout dial with distinctive stencil style numerals. 
Alpha designs are usually based on other watches but I can't find a reference for this model. Can anyone throw some light on this design? 
Maybe it's an Alpha 'original' :think:;-)










Cheers


----------



## Reno

Nice one Dapper :-!
A new model...
Plus it has sandwich dial :think: cool...

But I've decided to calm down on watches for a while... :-( I bought nearly ten this year... includind two Omegas...



Dapper said:


> I've just ordered this Alpha 24hr. It has a cutout dial with distinctive stencil style numerals.
> Alpha designs are usually based on other watches but I can't find a reference for this model. Can anyone throw some light on this design?
> Maybe it's an Alpha 'original' :think:;-)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers


----------



## Dennis Smith

I like that one a lot! The sandwich dial is great...I assume it's luminova on the lower half of the sandwich.
The non-rotating minute track bezel is especially nice.
I'm also a fan of the "0" on top...most use "24".
Good job Alpha!


----------



## wemedge

Interesting watch for sure. Didn't know alpha made a 24-hr. Very cool, looking forward to your assessment when you get it.

wemedge


----------



## bestak

Great find :-!

i just check and find two others dial

White









Blue


----------



## matt.wu

I've been shopping for an affordable 24-hr watch that didn't have pictures of german tanks or russian dophins on the dial, and I'm a big fan of Alpha, so I'll be keeping my eye out on this thread for pics!


----------



## Dapper

Dennis Smith said:


> I assume it's luminova on the lower half of the sandwich.


Good point. I made the same assumption but just checked the Alpha site description & it doesn't mention lume. 
Soon see anyway ;-)


----------



## aai

great find!
andré


----------



## Dennis Smith

It's a small thing...but it always annoyed me on some Seikos when they put the lum ball on the wrong end of the seconds hand. Looks like they did this with this watch as well.


----------



## philden

That's a really nice watch, thanks for posting about it. I'm going to buy one too. I can't resist a resonably priced, stylish 24 hour watch with 0 on the dial.

Excellent!

Phil.

Update - I've just ordered the white face version.


----------



## whifferdill

Interesting watch - I really like the case and bezel and the dial is something different. It'l look good on a nice leather strap. Nice find.


----------



## gigfy

Hey Dapper,

It probably has this movement. Let us know if it is does or is different. And give us a pic or two if you can.



















Cheers,
gigfy


----------



## Dapper

gigfy said:


> Hey Dapper,
> 
> It probably has this movement. Let us know if it is does or is different. And give us a pic or two if you can.
> 
> Cheers,
> gigfy


Certainly :-!


----------



## nsjong

I don't necessarily think it's the wrong end.
It's just that in the day time, the non-lumed end doesn't get in the way of the markers and in the evening or dark, you can track it with the lume instead.



Dennis Smith said:


> It's a small thing...but it always annoyed me on some Seikos when they put the lum ball on the wrong end of the seconds hand. Looks like they did this with this watch as well.


----------



## TimeOnTarget

The design has a lot going for it!

Imagine a watch with a similar 24 hour sandwich dial but with tritgas tubes underneath as well as a second rotating 24 hour bezel with the same trit tubes. It might even be powered by a thermo compensated quartz movement. It would look like a Glycine SST and it would be my grail!!!!


----------



## citralex

Hi Dapper please post a pic when you get the watch as I am confused as to the color of the case. In the photo it looks cammo green but alpha says its grey,so is it the same case as the other two . It certainly looks good with the white dial and green numbers but I would rather have it with a S/S case. regards john.


----------



## Dapper

The Alpha arrived today so here are a few initial pics & comments.

It's a good-sized, handsome watch, with confident distinctive styling. 
The case is dark grey bead blasted stainless steel - it looks fantastic but I suspect the finely textured surface will be prone to marking.
The screw lug bars are a nice touch.
The auto movement can be manually wound, has a quick-set date and the hour hand can be set independently.

I think it's superb :-!


























































Cheers


----------



## Dennis Smith

Ahhhhhhh....So the sandwich IS LUM!!!!! Very good!


----------



## matt.wu

Thanks for the pictures, Dapper. Your pictures make it look better than Alpha's! Definitely will consider putting this on the short list .


----------



## citralex

Very nice ,hope phil can post pics of the white dial version when he gets it as I want to see if all the cases are the same color. regards John.


----------



## zippofan

Dapper said:


> The Alpha arrived today so here are a few initial pics & comments.
> 
> It's a good-sized, handsome watch, with confident distictive styling.
> The case is dark grey bead blasted stainless steel - it looks fantastic but I suspect the finely textured surface will be prone to marking.
> The screw lug bars are a nice touch.
> The auto movement can be manually wound, has a quick-set date and the hour hand can be set independently.
> 
> I think it's superb :-!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers


That is sweet Dapper :-!
Darn it, now I have to go over to the Alpha web site, that is just too tempting to pass up!

Cheers,
Griff


----------



## Pawl_Buster

Dennis Smith said:


> It's a small thing...but it always annoyed me on some Seikos when they put the lum ball on the wrong end of the seconds hand. Looks like they did this with this watch as well.


Aesthetically it may be the wrong end but technically it is the proper end.
The large orb acts as a counter balance to the long arm of the second hand pointer and it's limed pip is only used during blackout to let the wearer know that the watch is working. In the dark, the registration of the glowing orb is more than accurate enough to indicate what second it is pointing to.

I like the symmetry and balance of the orb where this one has it but can also appreciate why some would prefer it at or near the pointer tip


----------



## whifferdill

Dapper said:


> The auto movement can be manually wound, has a quick-set date and the hour hand can be set independently.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers


That's great! So, you can reset the hour hand to a new time zone without having to stop the movement?


----------



## philden

Here's a picture of the white face version, which I received today. Pretty quick service from Hong Kong, and a very nice watch.

If you use the feature to adjust the hour hand alone, the hour when the date changes does not alter. At least it appeared this way to me when i was setting the time. So the date wouldn't change at midnight.

Phil.


----------



## citralex

Hi phil is the case the same color as the black dial version, its hard to tell on alphas website. regards john.


----------



## philden

I can't be certain without having both watches, but i'd say the color is the same as in Dapper's photos of the black dial version. The case is definitely grey in color, there is no hint of green as suggested by the website photo.

The website photos really don't do the watch justice. I'm thinking of getting a black one as well, based on Dapper's photos.

Phil.


----------



## gaopa

Thanks for posting the pics of the Alpha black dial universal military watch. That is a fine looking watch and I am thinking of adding that to my collection. Gee, you sure can't beat the price! Cheers, Bill P.


----------



## Zoot Allures

Hi all,

Seasons greatings. 

This 24h Alpha watch looks goood!



gigfy said:


> It probably has this movement. Let us know if it is does or is different. And give us a pic or two if you can.


Some Alpha have Miyota, the chinese movement you gave shots seem very neat.

I'm really new with all these, sorry for the dummy question, what are the average accuracy of such movements? 
Is servicing easy for the regular occidental watchmaker down the street --no sarcasm, here, against chinese watches nor european w.makers?

Thanks for your answers.


----------



## Sodiac

Nice watch - did you order it directly from Alpha (and is it safe to do) or is there a better source?
Thx.


----------



## philden

I bought mine directly from www.alpha-watch.com

Phil.


----------



## Sodiac

philden said:


> I bought mine directly from www.alpha-watch.com
> 
> Phil.


Thanks!


----------



## jakisbck

Congrats on your watches Guys they are really nice can we say they are what 44-45mm in size. Oh and Dap that's a really nice Lume Shot


----------



## bestak

i ask yesterday for a black dial, the answer was 
"Ii is just out of stock now, and will be available next month "


----------



## Sodiac

I looked all over the Alpha site, is it kind of hard to find anything or is it just me? All I could find was the blue 24 hour. Anyone have a direct page link to the black?

Thx, Sodiac.


----------



## bestak

The black is out of stock yet see my post just above, it will be in stock next month


----------



## Zoot Allures

Happy new year.



Zoot Allures said:


> I'm really new with all these, sorry for the dummy question, what are the average accuracy of such movements?
> Is servicing easy for the regular occidental watchmaker down the street --no sarcasm, here, against chinese watches nor european w.makers?


_All is clouded by desire: as fire by smoke, as a mirror by dust. [...] 
Through these it blinds the soul, after having overclouded wisdom._ [Bhagavad Gita, 3:36-43]

My bad, I have dust in the eyes, I should have read the Chinese Watch Industry Wiki and so.

Waiting for the Black 24h being in available again.


----------



## bestak

Hello

The black dial version is available again. :-!

I just ordered one :-d


----------



## CMY

My white 24 finally showed up at the office today.. I was starting to get worried. 

Very pleased with the quality and look, but not really a big fan of the band. Easily taken care of though.


----------



## vuokko

Hi!

A while ago I asked about first 24hr watch for me. I ordered Alpha 24h with black dial. Today I got it. It was little disappointment. The watch is great and after a while I played I was able to set set time and date as I wanted it. The finish is also nice and it starts feeling comfortable.

But there is always a but. But my watch had wrist band upside down. The VAVA embossing was against my wrist and the other shaft which keeps the band in place was broken. In a new watch! Luckily turning the band wasn't hard task but left little bad feelings for me.

Anyway I like this watch. Hopefulley it has decent accuracy. and I recomend. My first experience was unfortunately negative

Also before and after photos...


----------



## bestak

:-!
i just receive mine today, it was waiting me at home back from work.

Great watche, it's big but not too heavy to wear 
now 2 things to do : 
1) some photos with natural ligth and 
2) buy a spare strap because i am not fan of the one give with the watche 
(but it was already planified when i bought the watch)

:-d


----------



## zippofan

I just ordered the black dial over the weekend, as soon as it comes it is going on a NATO or Maratac military strap 

Cheers,
Griff


----------



## Silent Speaker

Vuokko,

I see that now the hands are different from the older version people who ordered earlier recieved. Someone in another thread complained that they could not distinguish between the hour and minute hands, due to their being the same length!

I am guessing that yours does not have problem, but pics are pics and I would rather get someone's first hand account, so do you have any trouble distinguishing between hour and minute hand? (how about in the dark, under the power of lume?)

I must say that I preferred the older style hands.

Also, the other person said they had trouble winding/setting the time on the watch. So, besides the band being upside down P), are there any other problems to report?

I'd just like to know if these complications are an isolated case or actually part of the new model that has come out.

Thanks


----------



## noodlebike

matt.wu said:


> I've been shopping for an affordable 24-hr watch that didn't have pictures of german tanks or russian dophins on the dial, and I'm a big fan of Alpha, so I'll be keeping my eye out on this thread for pics!


My sentiments exactly. Just ordered mine yesterday. How long does postage take from Alpha?


----------



## bestak

\nFree Image Hosting by ImageBam.com

i just have time to do 5 photos before having the usual out of battery message
Next time i"ll try some better


----------



## noodlebike

Got mine yesterday. Black version. Looks even better in real life than in photo's. Very pleased with it so far.


----------



## Corbyhk

Has anyone done an accuracy check yet? I'm keen to get one but I want to know if these things are within seconds or minutes/day.

Thanks


----------



## mihaixp

Very nice watch and very nice movement. I see that the dials are treated with luminova. Do you know if the hours are treated with luminova either?


----------



## Sodiac

Really nice! Congratulations! 

I've been eyeballing these in this thread since Dec., and now that the black is back I ordered one. 

Can't believe they don't charge shipping? I got a nice email also from a "Chan Chun Fung" at Alpha thanking me for the purchase...pretty cool, good service so far!

I need another watch like I need another root canal, but I couldn't resist and I've been into finding the "perfect" 24 hour watch lately.


----------



## noodlebike

I put a leather military strap on mine. It goes from good looking to stunning looking with a decent strap. I am impressed at how accurate mine is-about +5 secs a day. Better than expected for a cheap automatic.


----------



## Lencoth

bestak said:


> \nFree Image Hosting by ImageBam.com
> 
> r


Hi bestak,

Nice watch and pictures. In the pictures the seconds hands is dead on 0, but the minutes hands is somewhat short of 17. Might be an optical illusion due to the angle of the shot. How is it in real life?


----------



## Sodiac

noodlebike said:


> I put a leather military strap on mine. It goes from good looking to stunning looking with a decent strap. I am impressed at how accurate mine is-about +5 secs a day. Better than expected for a cheap automatic.


Sounds cool - which strap? Can you post a pic? b-)


----------



## chrise2469

Lencoth said:


> Hi bestak,
> 
> Nice watch and pictures. In the pictures the seconds hands is dead on 0, but the minutes hands is somewhat short of 17. Might be an optical illusion due to the angle of the shot. How is it in real life?


It's not an illusion. The hour hand can be set independently from the minute hand in the first crown position.

I believe that this is the alpha GMT movement but with the GMT hand used for the hour. This movement has always been a pain to get exactly on the hour. It takes me multiple tries and great aggravation to get it bang on. The problem is compounded by the fact that when the crown is pushed in all the way the minute hand will often jump.

If the hour hands having to always hit the mark is critical to your watch enjoyment you may want to pass on this one.








As you can see it can be rather extreme.


----------



## Lencoth

chrise2469 said:


> If the hour hands having to always hit the mark is critical to your watch enjoyment you may want to pass on this one.


If the hands don't line up, I'm afraid that would annoy me. I know there are more important things in live, but it would still bug me. I'll take your advice and pass.


----------



## noodlebike

Corbyhk said:


> Has anyone done an accuracy check yet? I'm keen to get one but I want to know if these things are within seconds or minutes/day.
> 
> Thanks


Mine is about +5 secs a day.


----------



## noodlebike

Sodiac said:


> Sounds cool - which strap? Can you post a pic? b-)


As soon as I find the missing non-standard USB lead for my camera :-s


----------



## bestak

you can use intead of a memory card reader


----------



## dragonkhan

Hi,

I ordered mine last week and now I'm waiting for the postman...

Does anyone know which movement has? Web says only 23 jewels movement (not 35 as the one that appears in an above post).

By the way, we're still waiting for the pictures with the nato strap...

CU


----------



## Dapper

Here are a few pics of mine on a new leather strap 

It's a black Herzog 'Pilot' parallel 24mm & 3.5mm-4mm continuous thickness:


----------



## dragonkhan

Wow!
Dapper, your pictures are always amazing. Are you a photographer? :-!

By the way, any idea about the movement?

Xavi


----------



## Dapper

dragonkhan said:


> Wow!
> Dapper, your pictures are always amazing. Are you a photographer? :-!
> 
> By the way, any idea about the movement?
> 
> Xavi


Thanks Xavi. No, I just take a lot & only show the ones I Like ;-)

I tried to take off the back to shoot the movement. First I tried sticky tape and then this tool but it won't budge - advice needed |>


----------



## Sodiac

Just as a follow-up:
I ordered a black 24H on March 7, 2009. $62.50 and free shipping? Just how do they make money at this?? Received it March 20, 2009.

It came tightly packed in a small box with stamps, from Hong Kong, in very good shape. Comes with a little suede bag and instruction booklet and filled out warranty card. Mine has the new styled hands.

I find the OE strap very comfy, stretchy and does NOT have that ick vanilla smell!

Wound it up and let it run; it took 37 half turns. That evening at 19:55 I reset it -- it hacks! -- and got it close at -2 seconds from NIST time on my dead-on Casio digital. When you pull the stem (it's a screw-down), it takes about 2-3 seconds for the movement to stop, thus the -2.

Here's how it's ran since, these numbers are variation from NIST time in seconds at the time indicated:

19:55 -2 (March 20, first set)
22:39 -3
05:27 -3 (morning of March 21)
07:53 -2
09:46 -1
18:28 +1

I'd say that is OUTSTANDING! So in other words, if you take the original set at -2 into account, it has varied only about plus/minus 2 seconds in over 24 hours?

I was at a Russian watchmaker shop today by coincidence and he scoffed at me, obviously not believing me, his quote was something like "Well, my $9,500 Breitling doesn't keep time like that". I'd say he paid about $9,437.50 too much then!

I'm super pleased, it fits and wears beautifully. Thanks for the tip on this guys! Here's a quick shot, see the new styled hands:


----------



## noodlebike

Mine was also extremely accurate (-2 secs a day lately) until this morning when I gave the watch its usual shake before putting it on and it sounded like a bag of spanners. 
I tried to wind it manually and something is broken inside, maybe the winding weight has come off or something. There was no resistance on the winder, definately not right.
I emailed alpha and they promptly responded and gave me the return details. I will send it tomorrow. I imagine I wont see it again for 3-4weeks judging by the original delivery time when new, and adding repair turnaround time etc. Just when I got used to the 24hr face. I really like the watch & hope I was just unlucky :-(.


----------



## desmondus rotundus

Dapper said:


> Here are a few pics of mine on a new leather strap
> 
> It's a black Herzog 'Pilot' parallel 24mm & 3.5mm-4mm continuous thickness:


Hi,
are theses the old or new style hands?
not that it really matters will probably order one at the weekend.
thanks to Xavi by the way, had totally forgotten about my membership here. |>


----------



## dragonkhan

Des,

This are not the new hands. You can see the new styled hands here https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?p=1770839#poststop

Regards,

Xavi


----------



## Sodiac

noodlebike said:


> Mine was also extremely accurate (-2 secs a day lately) until this morning when I gave the watch its usual shake before putting it on and it sounded like a bag of spanners.
> I tried to wind it manually and something is broken inside, maybe the winding weight has come off or something. There was no resistance on the winder, definately not right.
> I emailed alpha and they promptly responded and gave me the return details. I will send it tomorrow. I imagine I wont see it again for 3-4weeks judging by the original delivery time when new, and adding repair turnaround time etc. Just when I got used to the 24hr face. I really like the watch & hope I was just unlucky :-(.


Wow, sorry to hear that! For what it costs, you think they'd simply send you a new one...


----------



## noodlebike

Sodiac said:


> Wow, sorry to hear that! For what it costs, you think they'd simply send you a new one...


Yes, you would have thought so, but in their email they state if used, repair only, if unused, replacement watch. Never mind, hopefully it will last a bit longer after the repair..!! If not, Ive got my eye on one of these,







http://www.russia2all.com/vostok-eu...or_buran_volmax_vostok_russian_watch_508.html


----------



## Sodiac

noodlebike said:


> Yes, you would have thought so, but in their email they state if used, repair only, if unused, replacement watch. Never mind, hopefully it will last a bit longer after the repair..!! If not, Ive got my eye on one of these,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.russia2all.com/vostok-eu...or_buran_volmax_vostok_russian_watch_508.html


Yep, those are nice, I have one in black. It took a while to break in, but now is pretty accurate. I just put a Dive Straps strap on it:


----------



## noodlebike

Sodiac said:


> Yep, those are nice, I have one in black. It took a while to break in, but now is pretty accurate. I just put a Dive Straps strap on it:


Nice, I like the clarity of the face on this design. |>


----------



## Sodiac

chrise2469 said:


> It's not an illusion. The hour hand can be set independently from the minute hand in the first crown position.
> 
> I believe that this is the alpha GMT movement but with the GMT hand used for the hour. This movement has always been a pain to get exactly on the hour. It takes me multiple tries and great aggravation to get it bang on. The problem is compounded by the fact that when the crown is pushed in all the way the minute hand will often jump.
> 
> If the hour hands having to always hit the mark is critical to your watch enjoyment you may want to pass on this one.
> 
> As you can see it can be rather extreme.


Man, do I agree on this one - I somehow got the hour hand out of whack on my Alpha 24H, and it took many, many tries to get everything back in order. I followed the confusing instructions that came with the watch, but this is a real pain.

Part of the problem also I think, at least on mine, is the crown has a very iffy push/pull feel, I'm guessing it will break eventually, I never know if the crown will accurately pull out to the 1st or 2nd position. Then when I think I have everything set, and push in the crown, the hour hand on mine jumps and I have to start all over.

This is especially a problem if the watch isn't worn every day; when I fire it up again after not wearing it, I have to go through the routine.

Not sure why they designed it this way, my Raketas do not have a separate hour hand (but don't hack, but I can still do the "Poor Man's Hack" to get them set very correctly, actually faster than the Alpha).

So bottom line is that the Alpha is a nice-looking watch, and a nice design, but the quality really bothers me, enough where I would probably not buy another Alpha, I'd rather spend more (or less, in the case of my Raketa 24H watches!) and skip the hassles.


----------



## noodlebike

Still waiting for my alpha to come back. I have emailed them twice with no response as yet.


----------



## philden

I have had good email communication with Alpha, but have unfortunately had to return my watch a second time. The first time the crown came off, and I assume I got a new watch as the hour hand and strap were different. The second time I had been wearing the watch for about three days and the hour and minute hands stopped. The second hand still moved, but I couldn't move the other hands with the crown either.
This was a great pity, as I had got the hour hand adjusted really nicely and was enjoying the look of the watch.

Phil.


----------



## fuz74

Just a quick question...is the lug size 24mm or 22mm? It looks like 24mm in recent photos but it is listed as 22mm on the website. 

Thanks


----------



## Dapper

fuz74 said:


> Just a quick question...is the lug size 24mm or 22mm? It looks like 24mm in recent photos but it is listed as 22mm on the website.
> 
> Thanks


It's actually 23mm but takes a 24mm strap ok....










Cheers


----------



## Sodiac

fuz74 said:


> Just a quick question...is the lug size 24mm or 22mm? It looks like 24mm in recent photos but it is listed as 22mm on the website.
> 
> Thanks


I just measured it at 23 mm also...


----------



## fuz74

Thanks this is very helpful. I have recently purchased this style of watch and had a 24mm band that needed to find a home so it looks like this could work well.


----------



## zippofan

fuz74 said:


> Thanks this is very helpful. I have recently purchased this style of watch and had a 24mm band that needed to find a home so it looks like this could work well.


Yes, it is definitely 23mm, I measured it when it arrived.

Enjoy your new Alpha :-!

Cheers,
Griff


----------



## Sodiac

fuz74 said:


> Thanks this is very helpful. I have recently purchased this style of watch and had a 24mm band that needed to find a home so it looks like this could work well.


Just for the record, I really like the original strap that Alpha provides with this watch. It's soft and stretchy and I think it feels very comfortable. I wish my other straps felt as good!


----------



## noodlebike

Sodiac said:


> Wow, sorry to hear that! For what it costs, you think they'd simply send you a new one...


My Alpha finally arrived back after a month & a half, and guess what-it is a new one...!!!! I guess the old one had grenaded inside and when they finally gave up trying to repair it they send a new one. Lets see how long this one lasts...!!! Why didn't they just send a new one straight away, God only knows o|


----------



## raschid

Hi there,

got myself a blue alpha. Very nice - and quite accurate as well.
Below you will also find a lume shot comparing the alpha to a Poljot Aviator.
Enjoy,
Raschid


----------



## Sodiac

raschid said:


> Hi there,
> 
> got myself a blue alpha. Very nice - and quite accurate as well.
> Below you will also find a lume shot comparing the alpha to a Poljot Aviator.
> Enjoy,
> Raschid


Nice one! Congratulations!


----------



## Nikolas

Just managed to regulate my Alpha 24 to +0.5 secs a day by trial & error. I had no idea a cheap Chinese movement could be so accurate. I only wish I could get my Invicta 9937 (Selita mvt) this good. It can only manage +3 secs a day which is still impressive, but how the Alpha betters this with a lower beat movement really amazes me. :-!


----------



## Sodiac

Nikolas said:


> Just managed to regulate my Alpha 24 to +0.5 secs a day by trial & error. I had no idea a cheap Chinese movement could be so accurate. I only wish I could get my Invicta 9937 (Selita mvt) this good. It can only manage +3 secs a day which is still impressive, but how the Alpha betters this with a lower beat movement really amazes me. :-!


I agree, my Alpha 24 is very accurate also, right out of the box, I was showing it to a local watchmaker who was amazed also, he said it was more accurate than his customer's Breitling!


----------



## CMY

Just stoking the fire.. a thick 24MM black/white stitch strap would probably look even better. :-!









(above strap not included with purchase)


----------

