Porsche Design

You're paying for a genuine design pedigree rather than a badge. The studio was founded by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the man who designed the original Porsche 911, and the same functional-luxury thinking runs through the watches, sunglasses and accessories. Premium materials and that lineage — not just the name — are what sit behind the price.

If you value understated, functional design and durability over flash, they tend to satisfy. Eyewear is a core category for the brand — its P'8000 line — and the appeal is precise, restrained styling that lasts rather than seasonal trendiness. Look after them and they're built to stay in rotation for years.

The Chronograph 1 was released in 1972, the same year F. A. Porsche founded the design studio in Stuttgart, and it's the piece the brand's watchmaking identity is built on. Its all-black, glare-free aesthetic became a signature look. Porsche Design timepieces are now developed and produced through a dedicated timepieces operation in Switzerland.

That distinction belongs to Porsche Design's P'6510, released in 1972 — the world's first black chronograph. The blacked-out, reflection-free approach became central to the brand's watch language and is part of why its early designs are so collectible.

Porsche Design was founded in 1972 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche — grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche and the designer of the original 911. He established the design studio in Stuttgart, Germany, before it relocated to Zell am See, Austria, in 1974.

They're closely linked but distinct. Porsche Design is a German lifestyle brand and product-design studio; its current legal entity was formed in 2003 as a majority-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG to combine the accessories and licensing businesses. So it shares the family and the heritage, but it's the lifestyle and design arm rather than the carmaker itself.

Beyond the branded products, the studio — renamed Studio F. A. Porsche in 2015 in memory of its founder — works for other companies on industrial and product design. Its credits range widely, even to streetcars designed for the city of Vienna, which gives a sense of how far the design thinking reaches beyond accessories.

Since 2005 everything has been developed and marketed under the single Porsche Design name, split into numbered categories — for example P'1000 Fashion, P'2000 Luggage, P'6000 Timepieces and P'8000 Eyewear. That numbering helps you place a product within the wider range at a glance.

Yes, repeatedly. It partnered with Adidas in 2014 to launch Porsche Design Sport by adidas, worked with BlackBerry on smartphones, with LaCie on hard drives, and on a long-running Huawei Mate series from 2016 to 2022. These tie-ups extend the design language into categories the studio doesn't manufacture itself.

For most buyers the entry points are the sunglasses (the P'8000 eyewear line) or a watch from the timepieces range — the categories the brand is best known for. If the heritage is the draw, the Chronograph 1 lineage is the most storied; if you want everyday functional luxury, the eyewear is the easier first step.