Porsche Design’s Titanium Chronograph 1 Utility Resurrects Its Legendary ’70s Military Movement

When Porsche Design and Hodinkee released the first watch in their collaboration back in 2024, the caseback teased a three-part trilogy. We assumed the sequels would amount to new dials on the same platform. Instead, chapter two shows up packing an entirely new movement, and it’s one that took four years to develop. It also resurrects a function watchmaking that was lost more than two decades ago. Say hello to the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Utility Limited Edition.

The Lemania 5100’s Second Act

To understand why this watch matters, you first need to know the Lemania 5100. The automatic chronograph powered the original Porsche Design military watches of the late ’70s, and its defining feature was an elapsed-minutes hand mounted dead center on the dial rather than buried in a subdial. It was designed specifically for pilots to read timed intervals in a single glance.

The 5100 exited production over 20 years ago, and its central-minute architecture sat locked behind a patent until 2022. According to the brand, Porsche Design started engineering its successor the moment that patent lifted.

Four Years of R&D, One New Caliber

The resulting WERK 01.340 is COSC-certified, runs a 60-hour power reserve, and brings the whole 5100 layout back intact. The central chronograph minute hand returns (now jumping in crisp one-minute increments for exact readings), joined by a 24-hour AM/PM register at 12 o’clock and a bilingual English and German day-date display.

Even the chapter ring stays on mission, trading the expected tachymeter for a 12-hour scale.

Bead-Blasted Titanium, Genuine Porsche Leather

The 40.8mm case is bead-blasted titanium left raw and uncoated, backed by 100 meters of water resistance and a solid engraved caseback. On the dial, a red-circled “Ti” calls out the case metal, which is a clever twist on the tiny tritium lume markings certain vintage examples wore.

And in true enthusiast-bait fashion, the watch ships with both a matching titanium bracelet and an Agave Green bund strap cut from genuine Porsche upholstery leather, with a quick-change system for swapping between the two in seconds.

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

Handcrafted at Porsche Design’s own manufactory in Grenchen, Switzerland, the Chronograph 1 Utility is limited to 350 pieces worldwide and priced at $9,650. The first 100 examples are available now exclusively through Hodinkee and Watches of Switzerland.

Recap

Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Utility Limited Edition for Hodinkee

Porsche Design and Hodinkee resurrect the Lemania 5100’s legendary central-minute chronograph layout via the brand new WERK 01.340 movement, limited to 350 bead-blasted titanium pieces.

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