Germany’s Porsche had the car, Swiss watchmaker Chopard had the fresh chronograph … all the partners needed was victory at Le Mans.
The press releases were written and the promotional material celebrating Chopard’s role as the official timing partner for the Le Mans winning Porsche team was ready to go.
Except a Toyota was in the lead … until the last few minutes when a mechanical failure brought it to a stop and a Porsche 919 flew past to win.
It was a cruel result for Toyota but a relief for the Porsche team and Chopard’s marketing crew. Chopard had made a special watch for the 2016 race, the Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Black Edition.
The 45mm chronograph was inspired by the new Porsche 919 Hybrid, which, after a triumphant 2015 season, was eyeing an 18th world championship title.
The Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Black Edition is a chronometer-certified watch limited to 100 pieces cased in titanium. It features black with white and red detailing in keeping with the livery of the Porsches that took both first and second spots on the dais.
Like the Porsches, the timepiece is no slouch. Its case is bead-blasted, blackened by a DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) treatment ensuring an extremely scratch-resistant coating, and water-resistant to 100 metres. Topping it is a bezel bearing a lacquered titanium tachymetric scale, secured by eight PVD-coated blackened screws.
The matt black, rubber-moulded, screw-lock crown bears a steering wheel emblem, while the two pushers are respectively coated in red rubber at 2 o’clock (chronograph start-stop functions) and black rubber at 4 o’clock (zero-reset function).
Says Chopard: “The grooves on the case middle evoke the cooling fins of race-car engines, an exclusive finish reflected in the straight lines of the dial reminiscent of the Porsche 919 Hybrid’s rear diffuser.
“The red 919 logo appearing on the hours counter is identical to the numbers of the Porsche Hybrid competition cars.”