Alpina is a Swiss watch brand. It was founded in 1883 as Alpina Union Horlogerie S.A. founded by Gottlieb Hauser in Biel / Bienne BE. It was a cooperative of dealers and manufacturers, whose aim was the procurement and wholesale of high quality wristwatches and pocket watches as well as their parts and movements.
The M. Stellmann company, founded in Hanover in 1886, initially acted as sole representative of the brand in Germany.
From 1890 the company had its own administration building and a warehouse in Biel. In 1899, Hauser was appointed general manager, and a branch was founded in Berlin under the direction of director Emil Rothmann, from which the German watchmaking cooperative Alpina (Dugena) in Eisenach emerged in 1917. After the Second World War, the company moved to Darmstadt in 1946.
In 1905, more than 20 companies belonged to the cooperative. The Alpina Union Horlogère was founded in 1908 and was dissolved in 1972.
In 2002 Alpina was taken over by Frédérique Constant. At the end of May 2016, the Japanese watch company Citizen bought the Swiss Frédérique Constant group with the Alpina and Ateliers de Monaco brands.
Alpina Watches International SA
The Swiss company is still based in Geneva and sells mechanical and quartz wristwatches under the brand name Alpina Geneve.