| Alpha - RARE Automatic 17 Jewel Jump Hour With Date Feature, An Incredible and Daring Retro-Mod Design (circa '70s) | |
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| Description/Comments: | |
| Take a look at this rare and incredibly designed Swiss made Alpha 17 Jewel Automatic Jump Hour from the Retro-Mod era of the seventies. It is referred to as a digital watch, or Digitale as it reads on the back of the case. The entire watch is a sculpted work of art depicting a daring Retro-Mod Space Age design with plenty of flair and uniqueness. It is in absolutely mint condition. The screw down case back of the watch is marked: Automatic, Water Resistant, Stainless Steel Back, and in the center DIGITALE with the number 10567. | |
| Case: | |
| The case is manufactured in two parts (a solid machined stainless steel piece and a sheet metal brush finished stainless steel piece.) The brush finished stainless steel piece is brass-tone which extends over the face of the watch and attaches (is latched) to the solid machined piece, which has indented machined groves specially designed to hold the pieces together at the case back. The case measures a thick 7/16" and is fairly heavy. The machined stainless steel piece of the case has sharp machined angled corners and slightly curved groves for the contour of the band. A very intricate and uncommon design for a watch case. | |
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| Dial: | |
| The dial is a beautiful example of the retro Mod design and just a stunning work of art. It is a brushed silver or off white color accented with gorgeous navy blue stripes running horizontally the length of the dial. The Hour and Seconds discs are black in color with white colored Arabic numbers. The Minutes disc is white in color with black colored Arabic numbers. The date window is white in color with black Arabic numbers. There is also a small bright red horizontal line which visually lines up the numbers so you can read the time easily. It is marked with the Alpha symbol, Alpha, Automatic and Swiss. The color coordination of this dial is spectacular! The brass-tone part of the watch on top measures 1 9/16 (including the crown) and it curves out a bit in the center and is 15/16" at is widest point. It is not straight across because of its slightly curved styling. The crystal appears to be glass and has a high domed magnifying window (approximately 11MM long and 5MM wide) that covers the hour, minute and seconds numbers. The shape of the crystal echoes the shape of the brass-toned piece of the case front. | |
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| Band: | |
| A blue suede type material which is possibly Corfam (Space Age Material) and is absolutely unique to this watch. The entire band has stitching around the edges. It is actually attached and fitted under the case. It is 1 1/2" wide at the case and tapers to 3/4" wide at the ends. It has a large (1" x 7/8") brass buckle. The total length is 9 1/8." | |
| Movement: | |
| Swiss Automatic 17 Jewels. It is marked Alpha Watch Co., 17 Jewels, and Seventeen Swiss Unadjusted. | |
