Watches as the DNA of our brand Porsche Design

The Studio F. A. Porsche is known for its strong design philosophy. How are the design principles rooted in founder Ferdinand Alexander Porsche reflected in the Sport Chrono Subsecond Titanium & Black?

Preserving and evolving the design legacy of F. A. Porsche is very important to us; it forms the conceptual foundation of our work. The belief that a product’s function should be at the center, and that reduction and a focus on its essence are key to design, feels more relevant and necessary today than ever. Above all, a watch must first and foremost be precise in timekeeping, unambiguous in readability, and ergonomic in use. The Sport Chrono Subsecond follows exactly this approach, resulting in an appearance that is purist but not banal, functional but not devoid of emotion. The distinctive and clear lines of the titanium case, as well as the structured layout of the dial, are strong examples of this and trace back to the ideas of F. A. Porsche, who once expressed it as: “If you consider the function of an object, its form sometimes emerges on its own.”

The Sport Chrono Subsecond adheres to this principle and is organized according to a hierarchy of information based on functional priorities. The hour indices are designed as large, rectangular elements, referencing the broad, rectangular Super-LumiNova of the hour hand and creating a formal connection between index and hand. This allows one of the primary pieces of information—the hour—to be read quickly and intuitively, almost subconsciously, enabling focus on the often even more critical information: the minute. As the minute hand is positioned above the hour hand and therefore sits further from the dial, the minute indices are placed along the upper edge of a chamfer, running as closely as possible beneath the minute hand. This positioning avoids parallax and ensures the most precise readability of the current minute. The running seconds are positioned at 6 o’clock, forming a visual counterpart to the lettering at 12 o’clock, and together with the date display at 3 o’clock, create a symmetrical overall composition. The ideas of F. A. Porsche are reflected in virtually all of these design features.

More and more brands own or develop their own chronograph calibres with significant effort. Where do you see the reasons for this development? What were the key motivations for Porsche Design?

It is important to consider that many brands operate under large corporate groups, allowing in-house developments to be used across multiple brands. This makes such developments significantly more viable economically—similar to platform strategies in the automotive industry. As a result, many brands are now in a position to offer their own movements, while also pursuing new benchmarks and complications. Whether these always provide tangible benefits for the wearer is open to debate. From an enthusiast’s perspective, however, it is fascinating to see what is technically possible today.

For us, the primary focus has always been the quality of our watches, with the movement at the very core. Developing our own calibres was therefore a logical step, enabling us to control the entire production process and ensure Porsche-level quality. At the same time, it allowed us to implement clearly defined criteria for our movements—for example, all Porsche Design calibres are officially certified as chronometers by the COSC.

At the beginning of the 1970s, manufacturers of mechanical watches were challenged by the emergence of electronic watches with quartz technology and only experienced a renaissance from the mid-1980s onwards. In recent years, mechanical watchmakers have once again been challenged—this time by the development of smartwatches with their sensors, apps, and connectivity. How do you assess the market development of mechanical watches and smartwatches? Does this influence the design of Porsche Design watches, or is it largely irrelevant for Porsche Design?

The past years have shown that the rise of smartwatches has not had a dramatically negative impact on high-quality wristwatches—at least so far. On the contrary, for many enthusiasts of mechanical watches, the smartwatch serves as a complement rather than a replacement for a luxury timepiece. How this will evolve in the future, particularly in light of potentially changing lifestyles following the pandemic, remains to be seen. If everyday life shifts further away from physical social interaction—whether in offices or at events—status symbols such as high-end wristwatches may become less prominent.

However, since mechanical watches and smartwatches fundamentally serve different purposes—not only technologically but also socially—they are likely to coexist. It is therefore reasonable to expect that more people will develop an interest in high-quality mechanical watches, while turning to smartwatches for everyday use or sports activities. In terms of design, the rise of smartwatches has reinforced a tendency in mechanical watchmaking to make the mechanics more visible and tangible—for example through skeletonized dials, transparent cases, or sapphire case backs. For Porsche Design, however, the emergence of smartwatches has not influenced the design of its mechanical watches. In parallel, Porsche Design offers a dedicated smartwatch in collaboration with its technology partner Huawei.

Ferdinand Porsche once said, “The last car ever built will be a sports car.” Can this statement also be applied to luxury wristwatches?

I believe this idea can indeed be translated to high-end wristwatches in a similar way: “The last watch ever built will be a mechanical one.” The desirability of luxurious mechanical watches has, if anything, increased in the context of ongoing digitalization. People across generations are fascinated by a technology that, despite its complexity, remains repairable and can, in principle, function indefinitely.