Porsche Design 7176

Porsche Design Orfina Chronograph 1 PVD 7176S

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. THE DIAL Featuring a black dial with perfectly aged deep yellow luminous indices and hands, this Chronograph 1 shows its age as a authentic vintage timepiece. Additionally, with its Porsche Design logo over its day and date windows and 24-hour subdial at 12 o'clock, we can ascertain this is one of the later models within the Chronograph 1's production run that spanned from 1972 to 1978. THE CONSTRUCTION Boasting a large 40mm construction, the Chronograph 1 was one of the first timepieces to use PVD to completely black-out its case and bracelet, a tactic that resulted in a tremendously sleek aesthetic that slips under the radar. TIMING MACHINE READOUT This reading was taken (crown down) with a ONEOF Accuracy Boutique Edition timing machine at time of cataloging. It is provided as a courtesy only, and shall not be construed as a warranty or guarantee of any kind. Please refer to our terms and conditions of sale for more information.