# New Alpina - Concern on legitimacy



## aintitthelife98 (Nov 8, 2015)

Hello everyone. I recently picked up an Alpina Racing Chronograph (AL725B5AR26) on Amazon and it arrived today. Upon unboxing and checking it out, something stood out that concerned me. The rotor that you can see through the display back looks nothing like the rotors I've seen on any picture of an Alpina AL-725 movement or any other Alpina movement for that matter. Every AL-725 movement I can find a picture of has a dark colored rotor that is relatively small in size compared to what is in this watch. I have attached pictures here. What do you guys think? Is this a real Alpina or is there something shady going on here? Appreciate the help in advance.


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## KazeKei (Jan 11, 2012)

I don't think there are fake alpina around but the 725 movement should come with the black custom rotor afaik. The movement may be serviced, modified, or whatever reason and hence the rotor swapped. For these concern I would return the watch. The black rotor is much nicer too. 


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## aintitthelife98 (Nov 8, 2015)

Thanks for the response. I wouldn't have thought there were fake Alpina's out there but wasn't sure what was going on with this. I have reached out to the seller to get their thoughts and then will move forward with either a return or exchange. It may be silly but I agree with you that the black rotor is much nicer and I'd want the watch to have that.


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## UofRSpider (Sep 13, 2016)

Those Amazon "deals" will get you if not careful. Especially without Amazon's guaranteed return. I avoid it.


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## Nokie (Jul 4, 2011)

Agree. Exchange for another or keep shopping, IMHO.


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## aintitthelife98 (Nov 8, 2015)

The seller responded to me:

"Alpina used to make this model with a black rotor but they stopped that and this model now has the rotor like the one you received. The images online are from the old version. The watch you received is 100% authentic and brand new."

I'm not sure I feel any better after that response. I really like the watch so want to believe it's legit though. I have reached out to Alpina to see if they can help sort out what the deal with it is.


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## CamM77 (Aug 11, 2014)

aintitthelife98 said:


> I have reached out to Alpina to see if they can help sort out what the deal with it is. [/FONT]


I have the same watch en-route to Australia as I type this. Sounds like I bought from the same seller on Amazon too. Have you heard anything back from Alpina? Really hoping this isn't a dud buy...

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## aintitthelife98 (Nov 8, 2015)

Unfortunately I didn't hear back. I submitted to return mine today. Things just didn't feel right about it based on everything I could find on the web and discussion on the watchintyme forum. The rotor in there was very noisy and does not match any Alpina I could find. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.


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## CamM77 (Aug 11, 2014)

Thanks for replying. I'd like to think that I'll be pleasantly surprised when mine arrives, but it's certainly not sounding good. 

On the off chance that Alpina does get back to you, I'd appreciate if you could post their response. Might be useful for others down the track.

Cheers


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## aintitthelife98 (Nov 8, 2015)

I definitely will. I hope you receive one that isn't questionable!


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## Tony N (Sep 14, 2016)

aintitthelife98 said:


> Unfortunately I didn't hear back. I submitted to return mine today. Things just didn't feel right about it based on everything I could find on the web and discussion on the watchintyme forum. The rotor in there was very noisy and does not match any Alpina I could find. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.


Hi all Who did you contact at Alpina? I had a question a few weeks (maybe a month ago) and one of the members of this forum gave me a link to e-mail questions (on their site) and I sent an e-mail, did not hear back for several weeks, at which time got a uncorrect reply from their sales manager. I point out the error, and he gave another just as uninformed reply as the first, with an added note, "Always purchase from Authorized Dealer" I had given up, and politely thanked him, then I got an e-mail from their US office in Florida. It was exactly what I was looking for as far as the info.

Try reaching there.

Cheers


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## BriarAndBrine (Jul 28, 2015)

I've seen that rotor before. I have no reason to believe, based on the photos and the response from the seller, that it is a replica. Looks real to me. The same rotor is on the Alpiner 4 models.


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## CamM77 (Aug 11, 2014)

So my Alpina arrived today and sure enough, it's got the silver rotor. I really like the watch and have spent the last couple of hours scouring the interwebs in an effort to find some sort of evidence that _this_ specific model has been manufactured with the silver rotor and that it is truly a legit piece. :-s

Beyond the silver vs black rotor mystery, the other thing that's been confusing me is spotting a few conflicting pics of the watch on various legit sales sites. For example, on RaceWatches.com, the same model is shown with two subtly chrono seconds hands and also two subtly different dial designs. Specifically, look at the numbers 6 and 9 in the sub-dial at 6 o'clock and note the differences in the two pics below -:















For reference, the watch I received today matches the lower of those two images.

I was immediately reminded of the seller's reply to the OP's query about the watch's authenticity -:



aintitthelife98 said:


> The seller responded to me:
> 
> "Alpina used to make this model with a black rotor but they stopped that and this model now has the rotor like the one you received. The images online are from the old version. The watch you received is 100% authentic and brand new."


I'm struggling to confirm that the movement looks completely kosher, but I know that the AL-725 caliber is a variation on the Valjoux 7750 and I can certainly feel the trademark "wobble" so it's promising. It does seem a touch noisy, but I need to compare it to my Hammy Jazzmaster Maestro to see how it stacks up on that front.

In any case, there's the outstanding issue of nobody having been able to locate any evidence of this watch for sale via a genuine dealer with a silver rotor. After much searching, I finally stumbled across this listing on Chrono24. A seller in Dresden has listed this very watch for sale - with papers - and has added plenty of photos including....

















Perfect match!

So as of now, I'm feeling considerably more comfortable about this purchase and am far more inclined to accept the seller's explanation that Alpina changed their design. It looks like this piece may not be headed back to the States. :-!


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## aintitthelife98 (Nov 8, 2015)

I'm glad this appears to be working out for you. It is a very nice looking watch especially for the price. I ended up picking up one of the Oris Audi Sport Limited Editions so my racing watch itch has been scratched at this point. It definitely wasn't as good of a deal as this Alpina though.


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## CamM77 (Aug 11, 2014)

aintitthelife98 said:


> I'm glad this appears to be working out for you. It is a very nice looking watch especially for the price. I ended up picking up one of the Oris Audi Sport Limited Editions so my racing watch itch has been scratched at this point.


Cheers! I saw your posts about that Oris in one of the other threads - great looking watch and certainly a nice alternative with a unique "complication ".

Re: the Alpina... I still can't see anything to back up a switch to silver rotors with the AL-725 movement on the Alpina website, however based on BriarAndBrine's post, the photos of I've discovered from genuine dealers and the fact that despite knowing it's a genuine model, this watch doesn't even show up on Alpina's site, I'm far more comfortable. Also, knowing the movement is really a modified Valjoux 7750 and being able to see that it feels and sounds very similar to the other 7750 calibre watch I own was a great relief and made me feel far more confident that it was the real deal.

Part of me still wants to get some official word from Alpina themselves, but the other part of me says that I've done enough sleuthing to be satisfied and that I should leave it at that.


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## dave1966 (Apr 1, 2008)

I just bought the auto chrono with the Al-725 movement and my has the silver rotor a well. Here is the response I received from Alpina today. 

"thank you for your message and interest in Alpina. We had models with a silver rotor in previous collections Yet the current one offers pieces with just with a black rotor"

Based on this I feel better about keeping he watch. Hope this helps everyone.


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## dave1966 (Apr 1, 2008)

Based on the response from alpine took the watch to get sized today. The watch store happened to be an AD for alpine and they also confirmed that the watch is legit with the silver rotor. Hope this helps all concerned


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## ronragus (Jun 24, 2017)

How much was this watch?

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