The New Porsche Design Chronograph 1 911 S/T & S/T Heritage

1963 is a very significant year, not only in the history of Porsche but in the history of the car itself. This was the year when Porsche introduced its iconic 911 sports car, a car that would change the future of the brand to become the benchmark for the industry through decades of fine-tuning and genuine technological innovation. The same can be applied to Porsche Design, the brand launched by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche in 1972 and the first to produce an entirely black watch and a commercially available titanium watch. Combining those two elements and tying in the launch of the special Porsche 911 S/T sports car to celebrate the 911’s 60th anniversary, Porsche Design introduces a pair of limited editions. Logically, this is called the Chronograph 1 911 S/T, but there’s also a Heritage edition with a few subtle differences.

The 911 is a legend in the field, with its iconic design and signature flat-six engine mounted in the back. The car has been honed to perfection over the past 60 years and is now an everyday sportscar available in a wide range of styles. In honour of the 60th anniversary of this car, Porsche has created the 911 S/T. This is the lightest 911 of the current generation and packs the mighty 4.0-litre boxer engine of the 911 GT3 RS and 911 Touring, producing 525 horsepower. And purists can rejoice; this comes with a manual gearbox! Limited to 1963 pieces in honour of the year the 911 was launched, it comes with a sticker price of around USD 400,000, making it the priciest 911.

But let’s not dwell on that eye-watering sum of money too much and focus on the watches instead. Porsche Design has been a true pioneer in titanium watchmaking, as it was one of the first to produce a commercially available titanium watch. This lightweight material is used for the new Chronograph 1 911 S/T and 911 S/T Heritage, with a glass-bead-blasted finish for a matte look. The crown and pushers are also done in titanium. It measures a reasonable 40.5mm in diameter, although the height is quite substantial at 15.15mm on top of the crystal. Like the original Chronograph 1 from 1972, it has a barrel-shaped case with a helmeted lug section that neatly tucks in the strap or bracelet. The caseback shows abundant text, with the brand name, level of water resistance, limitation, reference number, case material and more inscribed in black.

The dial sets the 911 S/T (and Heritage edition) apart from the regular Chronograph 1. It still has a matte black finish as a base but is finished with white and phosphorescent green indices and markings. The sloped flange on the outer perimeter is finished with a 60-minute/seconds scale in white, green and red, like the rev counter in the car. The vivid green colour has also found its way onto the day/date disc at 3 o’clock. The hands are in black and white with Super-LumiNova to ensure a high level of legibility. Finishing touches include a H/M/S mark on the sub-dials to clarify what each one indicates, a gear-shift crest between 1 and 2 o’clock (silver on the 911 S/T, gold on the 911 S/T Heritage) and a 911 S/T badge above the day/date window.

Seen through the sapphire crystal caseback, the calibre WERK 01.240 is powered by a rotor designed to match the magnesium wheel rims of the car. This can be finished in Brilliant Silver, Dark Silver or Black for the 911 S/T. If you opt for the 911 S/T Heritage edition, you have a choice of Ceramica or Brilliant Silver for the rotor, and you get a vintage Porsche crest instead of a 911 S/T badge on the ‘centre-lock’ wheel nut. The movement is a flyback chronograph, meaning you can instantly reset the chronograph when running through the pusher at 4 o’clock. This evolution of the Valjoux 7750 runs at a rate of 28,800vph, has a power reserve of 38 hours and is a COSC-certified chronometer.

As we’ve grown accustomed to Porsche Design’s tactics, this special edition of 1,963 pieces is exclusively reserved for people who bought a Porsche 911 S/T, also limited to 1,963 pieces, in honour of the 60th anniversary of the legendary sports car. The Chronograph 1 911 S/T comes with a titanium bracelet with a fine-adjustable titanium folding buckle and a perforated black leather strap, also fitted to a titanium folding clasp. The Chronograph 911 S/T Heritage comes on a Classic Cognac perforated leather strap made from genuine Porsche vehicle leather (same for the black leather strap).

Remarkably, however, if you check out the online configurator that allows you to change the finish of the wheel rim rotor, you can also see that the Heritage edition does come with a titanium bracelet. Porsche Design does not communicate this in the press release we received, but given the price is EUR 11,950 for either of the two special editions of the Chronograph 1, I’m sure potential customers would expect both the bracelet and strap.

For more information, please visit PorscheDesign.com.