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On February 4, 2021, TAG Heuer announced online a wide-ranging strategic partnership with the automobile manufacturer Porsche, unveiling two "TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02 Chronograph Porsche Special Edition" models resulting from this collaboration. This means that TAG Heuer will be releasing a watch bearing the "Porsche" name in the future, but what about the other watch bearing the "Porsche" name, the "Porsche Design"?
(Article published on October 9, 2021)
Two watch brands bearing the name "Porsche"
Upon hearing the news of the partnership between TAG Heuer and Porsche, many watch connoisseurs must have wondered, "Why? Why? Porsche Design watches already exist?"
Some may have jumped to the conclusion that "Will Porsche watches be made by TAG Heuer in the future?" This is a partnership between two great prestigious brands, and it is understandable that such a misunderstanding would occur.
However, this is clearly a misunderstanding. Shortly after this, Porsche Design issued a press release stating that there were no changes to the plans for the "Porsche Design watch business."
So, this time, based on my experience of visiting the Porsche Design headquarters in Austria after the Basel Fair, I would like to talk about the differences between these two Porsche-related watch brands and their future prospects.
The appeal of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02 Chronograph Porsche Special Edition has been thoroughly discussed in other articles on webChronos, so we will not touch on this watch here.
Legendary Porsche Design watches
Until now, in the watch industry, the term "Porsche" branded watches meant "Porsche Design" watches, designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (abbreviated as FA Porsche, nicknamed Butzi), an industrial designer also known for designing the legendary sports car, the Porsche 911.
His grandfather was Ferdinand Porsche, the genius engineer who was known as "the greatest automobile designer of the 20th century" and who designed a series of famous cars for Daimler-Benz (now Mercedes-Benz), the original mid-engine racing car, the Auto Union P-Wagen, and Germany's national car, the Volkswagen Type I. The in-wheel motors used in the latest electric vehicles (EVs) were also conceived by Porsche during his time in Vienna, Austria, at the end of the 19th century, and this has become a hot topic again as the shift to EVs continues to progress.
His father was Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (nicknamed Ferry), who founded and developed the automobile manufacturer Porsche.
Butzi Porsche joined Ferdinand Porsche GmbH, the company of his father Ferry Porsche, in 1957. In 1962, he became head of the design department and was responsible for the styling of the famous Porsche 911. In 1972, FA Porsche went independent and founded the design studio Porsche Design, where he began his own career as an industrial designer.
One of the reasons for his independence is said to be the establishment of internal regulations at Porsche that restricted family-run businesses, but looking at his subsequent energetic activities and works across genres, including automobiles, public transportation, spatial design, and home appliances, it seems likely that his strong passion for industrial design in general was also a major reason.
Then, ahead of the 1974 Basel Fair, FA Porsche unveiled a masterpiece that would go down in watchmaking history: the world's first "matt black watch," the Chronograph I. Manufactured by Orfina (now defunct) in Grenchen, Switzerland, it was powered by the ETA Valjoux 7750 movement. The matte black dial featured white indexes and a tachymeter display, as well as a red chronograph second hand. FA Porsche directly brought the design codes of Porsche's dashboard, which stoically prioritized functionality, into the world of watches.
From 1978 until the end of the relationship was announced in March 1998, Porsche's partnership with IWC produced a series of masterpieces, including the diver's watch "Ocean 2000" and the "Titanium Chronograph."
During this time, in 1995, Porsche Design acquired the prestigious watch brand Eterna, known for developing the Eterna-matic automatic winding mechanism, which incorporated ball bearings into the rotor, through a subsidiary. Eterna and Porsche Design signed a licensing agreement. Until 2014, Porsche Design watches were manufactured by Eterna.
So what's happening now? Who makes Porsche Design watches and where?
As far as I know, there are almost no articles written about this in Japan, so I would like to write about it clearly, including the newly confirmed information.
