Chronograph
1.

A design, translated.

Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche, grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, is widely known for creating a cultural icon – the legendary Porsche 911. Launched in 1963, the 911 was the successor to the famous model 356 and featured newer, more minimalist design language. He is lesser known, however, as the founder of Porsche Design Studio in 1972 – an industrial design company, creating technically inspired products; designed with the same high standard of aesthetics and functions that distinguish Porsche cars.

The company’s first luxury product was the world’s first matte black DLC coated wristwatch. Created together with Swiss watchmaker Orfina, the mechanical timepiece was simply called Chronograph 1. The austere watch in black steel with an entirely black dial and contrasting white indices was a first of its kind. Released during the quartz revolution (which caused a decline in the Swiss mechanical watchmaking industry), the design of the Chronograph 1 would prove timeless even if some commentators at the time thought otherwise.

The revolutionary design of the Chronograph 1 was based on the Bauhaus philosophy where an object’s form is inextricably linked to its function. “If you analyse the function of an object, its form often becomes obvious” Ferdinand Alexander Porsche famously said. “I asked myself the simple question, can watches be made differently? I wanted to create a watch that matched a car. Black like the speedometer and the rev-counter – because that would be the most legible.”