While black watches are commonplace today, in the context of 1972, a black watch was shocking. Butzi was known to have experimented with different treatments, including auto painting techniques, but in the end, it was only PVD, which vaporises metals and binds them to the surface of the watch case, that worked well enough for him. Although the technique reaches back to 1852, it was only perfected in 1968; and while it is fragile in comparison to the DLC coating available today, at the time it was incredibly groundbreaking. The fact that Butzi Porsche chose this treatment for his watchcase some 20 years before Panerai used PVD-treated cases in its Pre-Vendome Luminor Marinas, speaks of how visionary he was.

Of course, Porsche was not a watchmaker. To collaborate with him on his watch, he chose Orfina, a Swiss company owned by an Italian racecar driver named Umberto Maglioli who had finished his career with — you guessed it — Porsche Racing. Very early models have the name “Orfina” above the day-date windows while later models have the distinct and attractive Orfina logo above these windows. Below the date-day indicator are the words “Porsche Design”. To me, these amazing Valjoux-powered Porsche Design Chronograph 1 watches have incredible historic significance. They were the first serially produced black watches and had matching black bracelets (a bead-blasted steel version was also offered). Their dial design was radical in its straight-up utilitarian racing instrument look, and they were one of the very first watches to feature the legendary Valjoux 7750. Finally, they were designed by the genius behind the Porsche 911.

I have long professed my love for Lemania, in particular because of its chronograph calibre 2310 that forged the base of the famous Omega Calibre 321 that equipped every Speedmaster that went to space. But my second favourite movement created by this incredible manufacture is the ultra-radical calibre 5100. When launched in 1974, the Lemania 5100 looked like it had stepped out of an alternate universe. It was created specifically to be the most reliable, shock-resistant, legible and cheapest movement you could find. As such, there was not a simple bridge or plate that was milled — it was all stamped. Further, it made extensive use of Delrin a high-tech plastic. Delrin was used for the day and date wheels, the switching cam and the chronograph clutch plate in this incredible movement. Even its balance wheel was mounted on a shock-absorbing Delrin plate, and all around the movement was a Delrin buffer to isolate it from the impact of shock on the watchcase. Finally, the movement used a vertical clutch, which meant that the chronograph could be left on indefinitely with no adverse effect on isochronism. The rotor is seated on a hard iron bearing and held in place with a push fork. Like the Valjoux 7750, the Lemania 5100 runs at a decidedly modern 4Hz, and the day and date are quickset. All this means that you could take your Lemania 5100-equipped chronograph and use it to smash open coconuts or clamshells in a desert island scenario, and it wouldn’t lose an iota of accuracy. Indeed the Lemania 5100 is the movement that powers the Omega Speedmaster, which Omega expert Chuck Maddox referred to as the “Holy Grail” for the extraordinary performance package it represents.

But the dial side of the Lemania 5100 brought about a subtle but important redesign in the Orfina Porsche Design Chronograph 1. The movement is distinguished by a central minute counter co-axially mounted on the cannon pinion with the chrono seconds hand. The chrono seconds hand remains red, but the minute counter is white, features a “lollipop” and is read off the same indices as the minutes. As such, it is a 60-minute chronograph counter. At 12 o’clock you have a subdial that shows time in 24-hour format while the 12-hour chrono counter and the continuous seconds are found at six and nine o’clock respectively. The confusion is that this watch (more specifically known as reference 7177 and 7178) is also called the Porsche Design Chronograph 1.

On the silver screen, the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 was worn by Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs Kramer, Martin Shaw in The Professionals but perhaps most significantly by Tom Cruise in Top Gun. The fact that this watch was selected as the timepiece of choice for Naval Aviator Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell was a perfect fit, considering that the Lemania-based references were selected as official equipment by several air forces around the world (although, he seemed to be wearing a civilian version of the watch). What is exciting was that after filming for the first Top Gun wrapped up, the original Maverick Porsche Design watch sat in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s safe for 34 years before it found its way back to Tom Cruise’s wrist for the new film, Top Gun: Maverick, to be launched this year.