Alpina presents its very first 100% recycled stainless steel case
In support of World Oceans Day, Alpina presents the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda, its first timepiece to feature a 100% recycled stainless steel case, and one of the first in the world to draw on this process. Fitted to a recycled plastic wristband, Alpina’s new diver is available in just 300 units, and is part of a movement to protect our planet and its oceans, in step with the company’s eco-friendly policy. To mark the occasion, the PuReSteel recycled stainless steel developed by Thyssenkrupp Materials Schweiz was produced as a special edition exclusively with scrap from the maritime shipping industry. This new Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic pays tribute to the highly symbolic Calanda, the first ship to fly the Swiss flag.
Alpina has been taking concrete action to preserve the environment, reduce waste, and protect our coasts since 2020, in a move to shift towards greater eco-friendliness within the watch-making industry. The Seastrong Diver Gyre Automatic range is the latest example of this. A full 70% of its case is made from plastic fishing net debris, while the wristband is crafted from recycled plastic bottles. Its box is also made from recycled plastic (rPET). This year, Alpina has taken its commitment one step further in a gesture of support for World Oceans Day, by unveiling its very first watch to be fitted with a recycled stainless steel case.
Recycled stainless steel: at the heart of sustainable development
Steel is one of the world’s most heavily recycled materials, and is a central component of any sustainably-minded company. Fully recyclable with zero impact on its core properties, this metal can be produced cleanly and recycled without loss: one tonne of recycled steel saves 70% of its weight in energy, and 1.5 times its weight in CO2. Because recycling steel releases very little in the way of carbon dioxide emissions, it meets sustainability and corporate social responsibility criteria.
Available in just 300 units, the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda is one of the world’s first watches to feature a recycled stainless steel case. Made from Thyssen Krupp’s ultra-high-grade recycled PuReSteel, it is certified 100% recycled.
A tribute to Switzerland at sea
Alpina is now bolstering the support it ploughs into protecting Earth’s biggest ecosystem, using recycled steel from the maritime industry as proof of its commitment to the cause. The PuReSteel used in the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda is sourced from dismantled maritime carriers. In a tribute to Switzerland, where Alpina was born back in 1883, the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda takes on the imagery of the first ship to have ever flown the Swiss flag, dismantled in 1953.
A single name, a single number: Calanda, 1. ‘Calanda’ after the eponymous cargo ship built in 1913, which flew under Switzerland’s flag from 9 April 1941. ‘1’ in a nod to the Calanda having been the very first ship to be recorded on the Swiss Boat Register, assigned Basel as its home and registration port. This was a powerful symbol for a neutral country, which had decided to equip itself with a fleet to ensure supplies could reach it by sea in light of the German and Italian troops encroaching on Greece.
A diver through and through
Evocative of the rounded curves of a porthole, the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda’s 100% recycled stainless steel 42 mm case is polished with a satin finish to the same high standards as a traditional stainless steel case. The unidirectional rotating notched bezel is made from traditional stainless steel with a brushed finish and a 60-minute scale, often used to time immersion and increments. The central hour and minute hands embedded with vintage beige luminescent matter count down the time, complete with a seconds hand with a red triangle tip – the Alpina logo.
A matte black dial encircles the whole, studded with appliqué indices with the same vintage beige luminescent detailing, and a date window at the three o’clock mark. The Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda is water-resistant up to 300 metres thanks to its full screw-in case back and crown, embellished with the Seastrong collection’s hallmark motif: Alpina’s beloved mountain peaks, layered under a trident in a nod to the watch's deep-sea personality. With its AL-525 automatic movement, the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda boasts 38 hours of power reserve.
A commitment to a cause
In line with the company’s eco-friendly policy, the new Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda sits atop a recycled plastic (PET) wristband in harmonious grey and black. Each watch comes in a case entirely made from recycled plastic, alongside a single-page warranty and a certificate of authenticity printed on FSC Recycled-certified paper, thereby cutting back on the amount of paper and ink used. The user guide, meanwhile, has gone paperless, and is available in digital format via a QR code printed on the box’s inner packaging, here too made from recycled plastic bottles (rPET).
As part of Alpina’s We Shape the Change eco-friendly policy, the Seastrong Diver 300 Automatic Calanda sets out to build awareness of the environmental issues and crisis our planet is currently facing, both within the industry and among the general public.
