In addition to the standard range of optional equipment, sports car customers all over the world can choose from around 700 exterior and interior options from Exclusive Manufaktur for all product lines. For more than 30 years now, customers have been able to enhance their personal dream car with many individual details through Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur – right up to an absolute one-off vehicle. From 1 July, Porsche Design will now also offer customers in Germany the possibility of designing a chronograph according to their uniquely personal taste. This service will then be extended to customers in Great Britain and the USA beginning in September. In this way, the company is transferring the successful concept of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur from the road to the wrist.
“There is great global demand for custom personalisation from the factory." Alexander Fabig
“There is great global demand for custom personalisation from the factory. Around 90 percent of all 911 models are personalised for customers using equipment from Exclusive Manufaktur. Twenty-five percent of all vehicles delivered around the world from this product line pass through the Exclusive Manufaktur workshop, in which special customer wishes are also brought to life,” says Alexander Fabig, Head of Personalization and Classic. “The cooperation with Porsche Design has been successful over the course of many years. From the 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series through to the current 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition, seven limited-edition Porsche Design timepieces matching the individual vehicles have already been offered.”
“With the innovative ‘Porsche Design custom-built timepieces’ concept, we are now offering customers the possibility of designing a timepiece to match their individual Porsche,” adds Jan Becker, CEO Porsche Design Group. “No other timepiece brand or automotive manufacturer currently offers such a personalised and exclusive timepiece concept with 1.5 million design options. Both the materials and colours from the car, along with the types of leather and decorative stitching, are adopted from vehicle production for the custom-built timepieces.”
The timepieces are manufactured in the company’s own workshop in Switzerland, and offer extensive visual and technical personalisation options. Among other things, it is possible to freely choose the colour of the (titanium) case and dial, the material and colour of the wrist strap, as well as the design and colour of the automatic movement rotor. Customers can choose from around 1.5 million different combinations – either according to personal taste or to match their Porsche 911. In addition to configuration using the web-based Porsche Design Timepieces Configurator, customers can also design and order their individual chronograph as part of the vehicle consulting process in participating Porsche Centres, or together with the experts at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur in Zuffenhausen. In the historic Plant 1, a special Porsche Design Timepieces consulting lounge with various samples and display models has been created for this purpose.
Comprehensive timepiece personalisation down to genuine Porsche thread
The case of a Porsche Design custom-built timepiece is made of titanium. Customers can choose between a glass bead-blasted or PVD titanium carbide-coated black case. The dial visually evokes the instrument cluster and rev counter of the 911. The colour of the customisable individual ring in the dial can be chosen from the exterior and interior colours of the iconic sports car. For the wrist strap, customers can choose between a titanium strap with black or titanium-coloured surface and a leather strap, whose material and colour options are based on the interior and exterior of the 911 respectively. The leather strap can be finished with contrast stitching using genuine Porsche vehicle thread.
The timepiece features the Porsche Design WERK 01.100, a chronograph movement with chronometer certification that was developed in-house. The automatic timepiece winds itself automatically while worn. The rotor is designed optionally as a Porsche Design Icon Rotor in Black, or as a rotor in the design or form of one of the alloy wheels from the current 911 series. As a matching style element, the rotor is crowned by a distinctive central lock with a Porsche Crest. A message, name or the chassis number can be engraved on the bottom of the timepiece – turning it into an unmistakably unique item.
About Porsche Design and Porsche Design timepieces
In 1963, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche created one of the most important design objects in contemporary history with the 911. With his vision of transporting the principles and legend of Porsche beyond the boundaries of the automobile, he founded the exclusive lifestyle brand Porsche Design in 1972. The sports car manufacturer acquired a shareholding in Porsche Design in 2003, and the Porsche Design Group has been a wholly-owned subsidiary since 2017. The first timepiece from Porsche Design was created in 1972 when the sports car manufacturer was looking for a suitable gift to celebrate the work anniversaries of long-standing employees. Since the founding of Porsche Design Timepieces AG in Solothurn/Switzerland in 2014, all Porsche Design timepieces have been developed and produced in-house. Production takes place based on the structures and processes of sports car production – for example, just-in-time and with zero tolerance for defects.
