The Porsche Design 1919 Globetimer UTC All Black watch hands-on

There are countless options to design a timepiece capable of measuring the time across multiple time zones. They usually provide local and home time at once along with additional synchronized timezones; you’ll find them displayed on the outermost ring of the dial or on the bezel, as far as the so-called Worldtimer is concerned. Porsche Design adopted this template when creating the IWC by Porsche Design reference IW 3821 in 1995. This beautiful – and indeed small to modern standards watch- was quartz-powered back then.

Despite being among those that approached watchmaking thanks to the project mentioned above, Porsche Design embarked on a new journey geared towards developing collections in keeping with the Porsche DNA, and a closer connection, as a “total look” brand, with the sports car division. The Porsche Design 1919 Globetimer UTC All Black is a follow up to the 2007 Porsche Worldtimer, the first of its kind. Showcasing a no-frills yet bold design and a disc-based local time display, the Worldtimer P6750 offered an unusual take on the complication.

Twelve years later, Porsche Design further simplified the concept and enhanced the family feeling across collections, as exemplified by the three-hander Porsche Design Sport Chrono Subsecond 39 Blue watch, proving that titanium is the favourite case’s material. At the same time, fonts and style mimic contemporary Porsche car’s. In 2019, Porsche Timepieces unveiled the Porsche Design 1919 Globetimer UTC, introducing a more ingenious take on such complication. In fact, it looks like a standard sports chronograph from afar while making the option to change from one time zone to another a simple task via the two pushers placed on the case side.

As you set the local time, you’ll discover that day-night visualization and date change are in sync. You are, therefore, allowed to jump forth and back across time zones with the date display updating accordingly. Also, engineers designed waterproof pushers to set the local time underwater or, which makes more sense, avoid any issue if you unexpectedly activate the buttons while diving. The Globetimer comes with a screw-down crown and a 100-meter water resistance despite the full leather strap. In the benchmark, the timepiece prides itself with no need to operate the crown, thus avoiding any unwanted time adjustment while setting the “Dual Time” (I’ll hardly list the Globetimer among Worldtimers since it cannot simultaneously display the hour in multiple cities and time zones at a glance).

The Porsche Design 1919 Globetimer UTC All Black is accurate to COSC standards, a welcome addition, but not a game-changer since other certifications have long outperformed the Chronometer standard. The timepiece houses calibre Werk 04.110 conceived in Porsche Design‘s workshops yet built to the brand’s standards by long-established supplier Dubois Depraz as far as the module of the complication is concerned. The weakest point is the case thickness, totalling 14.90 mm, counterbalanced by the full-titanium build. It’s a pity considering how clean, easy to use and read, and well built the watch is. Thanks to a titanium carbide treatment, the 2021 headline news is the Globetimer in Full Black, which turns the 1919 Globetimer into a two-tone timepiece.

The Porsche Design 1919 Globetimer UTC All Black sells for 6,250 Euros. Personally, I’d opt for the Full titanium (case and bracelet) models; I’m not too fond of black watches, whatever the design and the materials. Among its pros, I’ll list Porsche Design‘s commitment to building a robust timepiece (each push button undergoes a 10,000-cycle test), adopting above-the-average specifications, and ingenuity at your fingertips. In contrast, the overall size might be a deal-breaker and the 100m water resistance is a welcome spec especially if you’re opting for the full titanium variant.