While the Porsche name might be best known for their incredible cars, Porsche’s design studio Porsche Design have an impressively long history in watchmaking too which goes as far back as the 1970s when they kicked things off with a collaboration between themselves and Orfina in 1972 that resulted in the Chronograph 1, which was also one of the first products Porsche Design ever launched. Offered as a PVD-coated stainless steel timepiece, it featured a black dial with a completely blacked-out 40mm construction and an automatic chronograph movement with a day and date display. With two movements used in the watch across its 6 year production, the automatic Valjoux cal. 7750 movement was used from 1972 to 1975 and the Lemania cal. 5100 was used from 1975 to 1978, which is what powers our example here - identifiable by its 24-hour subdial at 12 o’clock. Offered as one of the earliest blacked-out timepieces, the Chronograph 1 was a trailblazing timepiece that created a boom in blacked-out watches that lasted into the 1990s with several watchmakers following suit, which was aided by its role in the iconic movie Top Gun whereby Tom Cruise’s character can be seen sporting a Chronograph 1 at several points in the film.

Watch appears to have been seldom used if ever, but the PVD surface has several areas of scratches and peeling along the case and bracelet. Dial with nicely aged luminous that matches the hands.

An iconic watch that made its mark on watchmaking thanks to its time on the silver screen in Top Gun, the Chronograph 1 put Porsche Design's timepieces on the map, where they have subsequently remained due to their interesting designs, rich history and famous collaborators.