the story
Joseph Alstater, the founder of Alsta Watch, was born in Belgium in 1910. At the age of 30, he emigrated to the United States with his wife, eventually settling in New Jersey, then relocating to New York City where he established the Alstater Watch Corporation.
Like many watchmakers of the era, Alsta sourced high-quality movements from Switzerland, and the brand quickly rose to prominence, creating an extensive catalogue of sports and dress watches, before falling victim to the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s.
Around 2014, Glasgow-based businessman Angus MacFadyen decided to acquire the commercial rights to the defunct Alsta watch brand. A watch collector himself, MacFadyen owned a vintage Alsta Nautoscaph skin diver, and his fascination with this relatively obscure brand inspired him to revive it.
ARTICLES
Alsta Watches: Timeless Craftsmanship for the Modern Adventurer
Alsta is a brand born from the spirit of adventure, with a rich history of crafting rugged yet elegant timepieces that have captured the imaginations of explorers, divers, and thrill-seekers for generations.
collection
superautomatic
The original 1970s Superautomatic was offered with a variety of bracelets and straps, but it was its appearance in the classic movie Jaws—worn by Richard Dreyfuss on a Speidel Mach 1 expandable bracelet—that cemented its iconic look. This distinctive style has since become the hallmark of the Superautomatic.
nautoscaph
Alsta was known in the 1960s and 1970s for its distinctive skin divers. Prior to the arrival of the Superautomatic, Alsta was mainly focusing on the release of smaller, thinner waterproof sports watches - called skin divers - which were ready to go straight into any adventure on land, air or sea.
motoscaphe
The Motoscaphe was engineered with motorcyclists as opposed to divers in mind. It has a bi-directional 12-hour bezel which is easy to operate on the road, and a ‘destro’ crown (i.e. on the left side), which is more comfortable when riding, plus the superluminova on matte black dial makes for easy legibility at speed.