Porsche Design ~ About watches

4 May 2015

Porsche Design

In 1973, Professor F.A. Porsche took his passion for mechanics to the extreme by developing a wristwatch inspired from the on-board instruments of the mythical 911. He created the first black chronograph ever sold, and surprised the watch making world by putting an instrument of incomparable legibility onto the market, an instrument that like his fetish racing car has remained up to date throughout the thirty years following its launch.
At the end of 2000, Ernst F. Seyr, Managing director of Eterna SA, (owned by Porsche since 1995) initiated the idea of the Porsche Design/Eterna super chronograph.

An amateur pilot and lover of mechanics, the group’s new director knew from experience that using a classic chronograph can be extremely difficult in real-time conditions and reading the small counters becomes practically impossible in stressful situations, where there is vibration or bad light. From that point, it was only a step to envisaging the development of a real instrument that could be used as a chronograph at a glance without having to make out the very small auxiliary dials…