Founded in 1972 by Ferdinand A. Porsche, Porsche Designs works hand in hand with Porsche motorsports to create a host of different luxury lifestyle products, including watches. While the brand is naturally focused on the art of precision timing and design, it also looks to new materials and new concepts to bring its timepieces to unparalleled levels of high tech engineering. Such is the case with the newly unveiled Porsche Design Monobloc Actuator Chronograph, a strategic collaboration with Porsche motorsports, whose experts brought their racing engine technology to the table to an unprecedented extent.
Standout Features of the Porsche Design Monobloc Actuator Chronograph
The Porsche Design Monobloc Actuator borrows from the new Porsche 911 RSR to stretch the definition of the chronograph. Inspired by the engine’s gasket-sealing system—used to make it more resistant to external forces, including dust, dirt, and water—and rocker switch, the watch eschews the use of a single monopusher or two pushers that operate the tracking of events for pushbuttons seamlessly integrated into the right side of the case. The result is a fully functional underwater chronograph.
How It Works
The pressure-operated double rocker switch system is built on an automatic ETA Valjoux 7754 caliber, and is built into the right side of the movement. Similar to how a car’s camshaft works to transmit power, the rocker switch swings to the center of the movement when activated, coming into contacts with tappets that transfer the pressure to the chronograph levers and gears. The tappets feature high-performance insulators that ensure a perfect seal.
Each time the rocker switch is activated—by a simple push on the case side above the crown for start/stop, and below the crown for rest—the rocker glides forward into the watchcase with a portion of it moving slightly across the sapphire crystal to enable full engagement with the movement. To prevent damage to the sapphire crystal as the rocker switch moves over it, Porsche Design developed a new, extremely hard coating to the sapphire, which also received seven anti-reflective treatments.
Details of the Porsche Design Monobloc Actuator
The Monobloc Actuator chronograph is crafted of titanium and measures 45.5mm in diameter. The watch offers chronograph functions, GMT function via a 24-hour time indication, and has a tachymeter scale on the outer ring of the dial. It is pressure resistant to 10-bar (100 meters).
Price and Availability
The watch comes in five different versions, including a GMT-Chronotimer with a titanium bracelet and black dial ($6,900); a GMT-Chronotimer with a rubber strap and black dial ($6,350); a GMT-Chronotimer with a titanium bracelet and blue dial ($6,900); a 24H-Chronotimer with a matte black dial, rubber strap, and black carbide-coated case ($6,500); and a special, limited-edition 24H-Chronotimer version with a black carbon dial, rubber strap, and black carbide-coated titanium case ($7,450). Only 251 pieces of this iteration will be made—a number that corresponds to the measurement in centimeters of the wheelbase on the new 911 RSR.
Four of the five timepiece are now available for preorder online, and will become available at Porsche Design stores in May and in authorized retail stores shortly thereafter. The 24H-Chronotimer Black & Rubber will become available in September. porsche-design.us.
