German sports car company Porsche turns 75 this year, and to celebrate Porsche Design has created a special watch, limited to just a few hundred examples. The timepiece is a special version of the company’s existing Chronograph 1, which first arrived back in 1972 and was the first product to come from Porsche Design.
Closely related to Porsche the car company, Porsche Design was founded by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who established the auto company and designed the 911 sports car.
The watch’s official name is the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Design. Limited to just 475 examples and priced at a hefty £10,100, the watch features an anti-reflective matte-black dial said to be inspired by the interior of a Porsche 911.
The dial is protected by sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating, and also houses a day and date complication at the three o’clock position, and three sub-dials for its chronograph function, controlled with push buttons on either side of the crown.
In a nod to Porsche’s motorsport history, the watch has a tachymeter scale around the circumference of the bezel which can be used to calculate the average speed of an object travelling a known distance – such as a car travelling a mile or completing a lap of a race track.
The rear of the watch is where things get interesting, thanks to a sapphire exhibition case back showing off the watch’s automatic movement and its rotor, which is designed to look like the iconic Fuchs alloy wheels of a classic Porsche 911. A coloured Porsche badge at the centre, and the individual number of the watch engraved into the case, completes the look.
Titanium is used for the case of this special edition watch (instead of stainless steel), and it is presented on a specially developed textile leather strap with blue stitching and a central red stripe. A black leather strap with matching stitching is also available, and both use a quick-change system so they can be swapped easily without tools.
Priced at £10,100 and limited to 475 examples worldwide, the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Design is available to pre-order from 8th June.
