Watch fans like matching their timepieces to their clothes, their mood, even the models worn by their partners. And, thanks to the carmaker Porsche, fans can pair their watch to their new sports car.
Buyers of the top-end Porsche 911 GT3 or 911 GT3 with Touring Package, both introduced in October to celebrate the design’s 25th anniversary, may purchase the Chronograph 911 GT3 or Chronograph 911 GT3 Touring (from $10,767). Only buyers of the autos, which start at $222,500, are offered the watch; the caseback of each watch can be engraved with the vehicle identification number from the matching car.
Since 2017, Porsche has been offering watches that match their top-end vehicles.
Gerhard Novak, the general manager of Porsche Design Timepieces, said the offer had been popular: In the United States, for example, about half of all buyers of the maker’s exclusive cars had opted for matching watches.
The idea is to bring sports car ownership to the wrist, Mr. Novak said, “just by the fact that the majority of customers don’t have the opportunity to always have their cars with them — either at home, around the office, the golf course, the gym, whatever.”
The titanium chronographs have a flyback function to stop, reset and restart a time measurement. There are three options for the bezel: a tachymeter, to measure speed based on time or distance; a minute scale; or a pulsometer, to measure the wearer’s pulse.
The dial’s hexagon format resembles the instrument panel of the 911 GT3 models. Among its customizable features are the color ring encircling the dial, offered in 150 hues, and various strap and stitching choices. The scale of customization allows for about 100 million possible variations, Mr. Novak said.
Over the years, he noted, about two-thirds of the buyers of these car and watch combinations have chosen to keep the watches when they sell their cars. (“It reminds them of the cars,” he said.)
But secondhand auto buyers are out of luck: Porsche will not make another watch. “We only do one watch per car,” he said.
Michael Köckritz, the founder and editor in chief of Ramp and Rampstyle, motoring and lifestyle magazines in Germany, said he was not surprised to learn that the matching program was popular.
“An authentic watch for one’s dream car is a nice idea,” he said. “It’s a sports car on your wrist, and Porsche fans also recognize each other, so there is that connection as well. And it will certainly appeal to some non-Porsche drivers, too.”
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