Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Limited Edition for Hodinkee

Quick specs Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Limited Edition for Hodinkee
Price: $ 9,650 | € 8.950 | £ 7,850 | CHF 8’950
Size: 40.8 mm
Reference: WAP0710200SHOD – limited to 350 pieces

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Limited Edition for Hodinkee is the latest collaboration between the German luxury brand and the American watch seller. They took the 1970s Chronograph 1 as a base. A watch that was designed by the grandson of the founder of car manufacturer Porsche and produced by the Swiss brand Orfina.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (11 December 1935 – 5 April 2012), also known as Butzi, started his own design studio (and brand) in the 1970s, and his company was not directly connected to the car brand. But later the car brand took a stake in the company (approx. 87%). Today Porsche Design still produces watches, but also other luxury goods like sunglasses, headphones, suitcases, ebikes and more.

Original Porsche Design Chronograph 1

The original Porsche Design Chronograph 1 with Valjoux caliber 7750 chronograph was powder coated in black. Which was pretty unique in the 1970s but it means if you owned one, slowly the coating was coming off. Which will not happen with the new ones, as the titanium case is coated with black titanium carbide. The old watch gained extra attention as Tom Cruise was wearing one in Top Gun part One and Two.

Over the years Porsche Design created many new versions of this Chronograph 1, and this Hodinkee version is a new variant. With some small but nice new features. It has the classic chronograph lay-out with three sub dials – a 30-minute and 12-hour counter plus small seconds. And there is a day/date at the 3 o’clock position. The super-luminova used for the hands and hour markers has a vintage appeal.

What are the differences between a regular Porsche Design Chronograph 1 and the Hodinkee version?

The first thing you might notice is that the tachymeter of this Hodinkee Chronograph 1 differs from other versions of the Porsche Design Chronograph 1. Here it has a 1-mile scale to calculate speeds in miles per hour. The second difference is the day display, that is available in English and Japanese. The latter because Hodinkee recently started a business in Japan too, so they want to serve their customers in Japan as well. The wearer can choose the language.

A third difference between the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Limited Edition for Hodinkee and the regular ones is Hodinkee’s H logo printed on the sub dial at 6 o’clock. And lastly the solid case back has engravings with the limited number and also: “TRILOGY – CHAPTER 1”. Which means there is more to come…

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Limited Edition for Hodinkee has a power reserve of 48 hours

The Porsche Design caliber WERK 01.140 is running it all, an automatic which is probably based on the aforementioned Valjoux caliber 7750 – which quality chronograph isn’t? Although you cannot see it from the outside as the case back is titanium, it has some decent finish, also with blackened parts. The power reserve is 48 hours, and the movement is COSC certified.

The 40.8-millimeter Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Limited Edition for Hodinkee comes on a titanium bracelet with matte black titanium carbide coating. The clasp is also from titanium and the watch is limited to 350 pieces.