Why the First All-Black Watch Wouldn’t Exist Without the Porsche 911

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 is an icon for good reason.

two black porsche design chronograph 1 watches

Published July 30, 2024

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What do the Porsche 911, blacked-out watches and Tom Cruise have in common? A chronograph that came out over 50 years ago.

Before the Porsche Design Chronograph 1, there were no watches with black cases. It’s hard to imagine today, what with the preponderance of cases clad in black PVD- or DLC-coated steel, or even produced in materials like ceramic or carbon fiber.

Black watches are sleek and serious-looking, and they’ve become staples of streetwear, military-chic and high-end watchmaking. They’ve even snuck onto the silver screen; the Chronograph 1 was famously worn by Tom Cruise’s character in the 1986 film Top Gun and its $1.5 billion-grossing 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

But where did the Chronograph 1 and the idea for an all-black watch come from in the first place? For that, you’ve got to go back half a century and into the mind of one of the greatest automotive designers of all time.

Porsche Design Chronograph 1

$9,650 at Porsche Design

From the 911 to the Chronograph 1

There has been a smattering of crossover between car designers and watch designers over the years.

Famed Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, who pioneered the wedge-shaped sports cars of the 1970s by penning models like the BMW M1 and Lotus Esprit, also designed chronographs for Seiko. In more recent times, British designer Ian Callum — known for breathing life into the designs of Aston Martin and Jaguar — collaborated on a watch collection with Bremont.

But there is no greater one-two punch of car and watch designs than the Porsche 911 and Porsche Design Chronograph 1, both of which were created by Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche.

silver porsche 911 gt3 touring in front of a single story brick building — F.A. Porsche’s most enduring design is undoubtedly the Porsche 911.

In 1972, when Butzi decided to leave the auto company his grandfather founded, he launched his own design firm, Porsche Design, by debuting this unprecedented watch. It was meant to both match Porsche’s cars and apply automotive design principles to a wristwatch.

The 1970s were a time of transition, experimentation and wild design, but even if you wanted to make a black watch, there hadn’t so far been a good way to achieve it.

Enter physical vapor deposition, or PVD, which had been used in the automotive and aviation industries to atomically bond a thin layer of material to the metal beneath rather than simply coat it like paint. By the ’70s, it was finally becoming available in a form that could be applied to watches. Butzi took note.

Why All Black?

Black looks cool on just about anything, but the idea behind using the color on Porsche Design’s first watch was practical: legibility.

Just as in the gauges and instruments of cars and airplanes, black trim functions to avoid diverting one’s gaze. High contrast with white hands and indices offers easy reference without distraction, which is what the watch is meant to do for drivers. Looking badass is just a bonus.

porsche design chronograph 1 watch face — The automotive gauge inspiration is clear in the Chronograph 1’s highly legible design.

The automaker connection and world-first tech let this watch stake a claim in the horological history books, but it wouldn’t have become an icon if the design weren’t also on point.

Butzi’s Bauhaus training manifested in the Chronograph 1’s austere minimalism, functional form and the chronograph seconds hand’s shock of red. It recalls auto racing — or, more specifically, a Porsche’s dashboard.

An Enduring Classic

For the first several decades of its existence, Porsche Design partnered with watchmakers for the actual production of its watches.

The earliest iterations of the Chronograph 1 feature Porsche’s own name on the dial alongside watchmaker Orfina. The brand would later partner with IWC and Eterna on more innovative timekeepers.

Since 2014, however, Porsche Design has taken on many aspects of watch production itself, so those co-branded dials are a thing of the past. The brand has its own manufacture in Switzerland, Porsche Design Timepieces AG, and even produces its own in-house movements for some of its watches.

porsche design watch movement seen through a display caseback — Modern examples of the Chronograph 1 aren’t just designed by Porsche Design, they’re powered by in-house movements.

In 2022, Porsche Design marked its 50th anniversary by recreating the watch that started it all. Side by side with the original model, it’s slightly chunkier, but remarkably faithful in almost every way. It’s also produced in titanium, referencing another Porsche Design landmark: when it made one of the earliest watches in the material with IWC in 1980.

Two years later, Hodinkee teamed with Porsche Design for an even more retro version, which still featured a titanium case and in-house chronograph movement. The $9,650 watch sold out in mere days.

Even at over 50 years old, the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 looks as fresh today as it did in 1972. Here’s to another 50.