Lot 16

Union Horlogère

Chronomètre Alpina

A very fine lever chronometer in almost mint condition

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The cooperative Union Horlogère was founded in 1883 by Gottlieb Hauser under the name "Schweizerische Uhrmacher-Genossenschaft (SUG)"(Swiss watchmaker’s cooperative) and was based in Biel from 1890 on. It was a cooperative of merchants and manufacturers, established for the procurement and wholesale of high-quality wrist- and pocket watches as well as parts thereof and movements. In 1905 the cooperative consisted of more than 20 businesses. The Alpina Union Horlogère was founded in 1908 and dissolved in 1972.
The Union Horlogère began developing their own calibres and extending their distribution network. The ebauches were produced by the Alpina-Rohwerke-Fabrik (Duret & Colonnaz) in Geneva. Duret & Colonnaz played an important part in the development of the first Alpina calibres. The Union Horlogère had branches in Geneva and Besançon.
Originally the brand name Alpina stood for a 12- and 19-line anchor movements by J. Straub & Co.. Jacob Straub registered the brand name Alpina for his movements. As he was the main supplier of the Union Horlogère, almost all of their timepieces bore the Alpina brand name. Searching a standard naming system, the members of the Union Horlogère chose Alpina for all of their top-quality timepieces, A (1926), Festa (1928) and Novice for watches of medium and simple quality.