In anticipation of the upcoming international watch fair, Baselworld 2016, and proving that they can translate their talent for making simple but beautiful everyday items to the production of watches, Porsche Design recently debuted it new collection of timepieces called 1919 Collection.
Long renowned for their innovative product design, Porsche Design is now logging another milestone in the brand’s history. Taking inspiration from the Bauhaus movement in architecture and design, which had a profound influence on the company’s founder, Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, this new collection is defined by a purist minimalism.
Much like how the Bauhaus movement embodied a serenity in design, well-balanced aesthetics, impeccable functionality, and timeless elegance, this collection, too, displays a similar design ethos.
Indeed, Prof. F. A. Porsche not only believed in but also demonstrated that a timeless form can be created with a minimalist design language that is functional, and it is this exact sensibility that clearly continues to drive the company today.
“With this collection, we are uniting the past with the future,” explains Dr. Christian Kurtzke, President & CEO at the Porsche Design Group, who was in Singapore last month at the Porsche Design boutique located at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
“We are honouring the Bauhaus style as a significant element of our brand’s DNA and are celebrating the upcoming Bauhaus centenary in 2019. I don’t know any other watchmaker that can convey these aspects with the same level of authenticity as Porsche Design,” he adds.
The timepieces of this new collection were entirely developed by Porsche Design Timepieces AG headquartered in Solothurn in Switzerland, in close collaboration with the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See (in Salzburg, Austria).
The Essentials
The “1919 Datetimer Series 1” which comes in four individual models, uniquely applies the functional standard of modern architecture to the design of high-quality timepieces. The characteristic gaps at the band attachment and the form-locking transition into the strap, in particular, add lightness to the pure aesthetic, while the reduced structure of the dial draws the attention to the display of time and date.
Time and Space
The “1919 Globetimer Series 1” which also comes in four individual models,expands the puristic design of the “1919 Collection” with an integrated display for a second time zone with a 24-hour ring added to the dial. This is a feature that that will be infinitely appealing to international travellers who spend time in multiple time zones. The time at the destination as well as at home are both simultaneously displayed, with the case back showing the 24 global time zones.
The first models of the “1919 Collection” have been available worldwide at Porsche Design Stores and select fine watch retailers since this past October; depending on the model, pricing ranges from $3,400 to $4,550.