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- Porsche Design opened a new watch manufactory in Grenchen, Switzerland.
- It’s the only auto brand with a dedicated watch manufactory.
- The facility uses an advanced ISO 7 cleanroom for pristine assembly.
- Customers can configure bespoke, one-of-a-kind mechanical watches to their preferences.
- The “Fitting Lounge” allows on-site design of custom-built timepieces.
- Buyers can drive their own Porsche directly into the showroom for collection.
Porsche is the only automotive brand in the world that operates its own dedicated watch manufactory, and it has just opened a new one.
Now located in Grenchen, Porsche Design now calls Swatch, Rolex, Rado, Hamilton, and many more of Switzerland’s best watchmakers its neighbours. However, unlike many of the brands in the region, Porsche Design can directly translate the DNA of its road and race cars into the micro-mechanics of the wrist. There’s an ISO-certified cleanroom that mirrors Zuffenhausen’s rigorous production standards and a revolutionary handover experience that allows clients to drive their own Porsche directly into the building to collect their custom-built watch. This is just the start of a bold new era for horology for Porsche Design.
“With the opening of our new Timepieces Manufactory in Grenchen, we are entering a new chapter for Porsche Design Timepieces. This investment is a clear commitment to the Timepieces division and an expression of our entrepreneurial mindset to further expand this area,” said Matthias Becker, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Porsche Lifestyle Group.
Brands have forever been trying to blur the line between a high-performance sports car and a precision mechanical timepiece, but of all the brands, it’s Porsche that has successfully done so by building both the road cars and the bezels, dials, and movements that make its watches. They don’t outsource the production and slap a logo on the dial, and we love that.
“Grenchen is far more than a production site,” said Rolf Bergmann, CEO of the Porsche Design Timepieces Manufactory. “In this historic building, we are giving the vision of our founder, F. A. Porsche is a home. Here, we bring together all of our expertise to develop and manufacture mechanical timepieces that set new benchmarks in innovation and customisation. Every watch embodies this philosophy – consistently designed, technically sophisticated and crafted with the same passion as a sports car from Zuffenhausen.”
To achieve this, the brand-new facility, spanning approximately 3,600 square meters, replaces traditional watchmaking workflows with the “Porsche production principle of sequential manufacturing”. To the buyer, this translates into ultra-efficient logistics and a better end product. It all comes down to the assembly, which takes place inside an advanced ISO 7 cleanroom. It features specialised workstations maintained at an even stricter ISO 5 level. To ensure absolute purity, a high-tech ventilation system performs 5 air changes per hour, maintaining humidity between 40 and 50 per cent.
Porsche Design isn’t particularly interested in volume, so it’s taking the customisation of its road cars into the watch business. Customers can configure one-of-a-kind mechanical watches tailored exactly to their personal preferences, mirroring the bespoke configuration process of buying a Porsche sports car.
“In our new manufactory, we follow the principle of ‘not more, but better’,” added Bergmann. “We evaluated numerous potential locations. Our guiding principle was to carry forward the philosophy of Ferry Porsche – after all, the manufactory is only the third in-house production site of Porsche. In doing so, we applied the same precision and care as we do with our timepieces, creating the specific conditions necessary for our manufacturing”.
“Our perspective is long-term. With the manufactory in Grenchen, we are creating the foundation for the next generation of Porsche Design Timepieces. It is less about scale and more about substance, about innovation, maximum customisation, and technical excellence”.
From a watch enthusiast’s perspective, the most compelling aspect of the new Grenchen site is how it treats the buyer.
Porsche Design has conceptualised the space as a “glass manufactory,” emphasising total transparency. There’s a “Fitting Lounge,” where clients can design their bespoke timepiece on-site. However, the ultimate luxury flex comes at delivery, where the facility features a setup that allows customers to drive their own Porsche directly into the manufactory to collect their custom-built watch.
By bringing together configuration, manufacturing, and a world-class handover experience for their new manufacturing facility in Grenchen, Porsche has created a coffee shop for watch enthusiasts. It’s a location worth a pilgrimage for those who demand the same precision on their wrist as they do on the road.
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