Porsche Design Launches Classic Timepiece to Mark 50 Years
50th-anniversary celebration of Porsche Design offers limited edition timepieces, a coffee table book, and a unique museum experience.
50 years ago, F.A. Porsche took his legendary design skills out of the automotive world for the first time. Applying it to an iconic timepiece, the Chronograph 1, would become the birth of Porsche Design. If you’re unfamiliar, Porsche Design is a design studio from the German automotive icon that applies the concepts and design cues of Porsche automobiles to a line of high-end accessories. For example, timepieces, sunglasses, sweaters, hats, and more. Now, 50 years later. Porsche Design is celebrating its milestone.
To mark the 50 year anniversary, the iconic company is re-releasing the Chronograph 1 in two different formats. The first is a replica of the original known as the Chronograph 1 1972 limited edition. Additionally, the second available timepiece is the Chronograph 1 911 Edition 50Y. It is a modern re-imagination of the iconic original. However, the celebration of this 50-year mark spans far beyond the release of these gorgeous timepieces.
Commemorative Exhibition at the Porsche Museum
The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, currently has a special exhibition for the 50th anniversary. So, now through July 10th, 2022, visitors of the museum can take an in-person exploration through the history of the design studio. On display is a whole host of Porsche Design products, including Aviator sunglasses, tobaccos pipes, and even the Porsche Design cell phone of the early 2000s.
However, the exhibit does not just display Porsche Design products. It also includes the cars that inspired the design of some of these products. The display includes a 993 Porsche Speedster that Ferdinand Porsche personally owned.
Furthermore, museum visitors will see a 904 Carrera GTS and 1972 911 S 2.4 Targa that has been lovingly restored by the Porsche Classic team for this display, given that its 1972 model year matches that of the year Porsche released the first Chronograph 1 timepiece.
“Our vision was to build a historic counterpart for the new 911 Porsche Design 50th Anniversary Edition special model,” explains Ulrike Lutz, Director of Porsche Classic.
“The new Sonderwunsch program gave us an opportunity to implement this idea for a unique vehicle pairing. The year of manufacture was the only specific requirement for the donor vehicle on this occasion. The designers and members of the factory restoration team were tasked with carefully transferring the specification from the new car to the classic,” he continued.
Here’s to Another 50 Years of Style and Cutting-Edge Design
Additionally, for those that are unable to make a visit to Stuttgart, more products to commemorate 50 years are available. For example, the 50th-anniversary coffee table book It’s About time is available for a modest price of $65.
Furthermore, a lineup of 50Y products such as pants, jackets, sweaters, hats, and more to commemorate the 50th anniversary are available for purchase now in the Porsche Design webstore. Additionally, the Chronograph 1 1972 Limited Edition is already available for purchase for a cool $7,700.
Ultimately, we look forward to another 50 years of Porsche Design’s cutting-edge product releases.
Photos: Porsche Design