Few topics are as hotly debated among car enthusiasts, especially Porsche 911 enthusiasts, as the idea of the “perfect spec”. It’s not just enough to have a great car, but there’s a real art in how you option it, or what badge/performance level/trim/etc one chooses. In my opinion, the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring is the epitome of this. It’s the ultimate connoisseur’s car: the GT3 is the purest, wildest version of one of the best driver’s cars on the market, but in Touring guise – which skips big rear wings and track performance for a more subtle look and (slightly more) day-to-day drivability – and you’ve got the makings of automotive perfection.
If you’ve been reading T+T for a while now, you’ll no doubt be familiar with Porsche Design’s stable of watches and how you can personalise them to almost the same extent as a Porsche, to create your own perfect spec. You might also know that there are a few Porsche Design watch models that you can only buy if you own a specific Porsche vehicle, which typically feature fewer options for personalisation. Enter the Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 & 911 GT3 Touring, which is both vehicle-exclusive and also highly customisable, and might just represent the best incarnation of the Porsche Design Chronograph to date.
First, the car
One of the coolest things about reviewing a Porsche Design watch is that Porsche (in Australia at least) makes an effort to customise a watch to match one of the cars in their press fleet, so you can get the full car-and-watch experience as a reviewer. With that in mind, the Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 Touring that’s the focus of this review is customised to match a specific 992.2 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Touring, which I also got to review both on track at Sydney Motorsport Park as well as around town for a week – a rare experience I’ve only had a few times in my career as an automotive journalist (man has range).
As for that car, it was something special. Coloured in ‘Slate Grey Neo’ with a tan two-tone interior, it cut a surprisingly subtle figure… Belied only by the snarling air intakes on its nose and frankly rude exhaust note. A 4.0L naturally-aspirated six-cylinder engine good for 375kW mated to a six-speed manual transmission will do 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, but those numbers alone belie its true excellence. The 992.2 GT3 Touring might be positioned as the more benign road-going version of Porsche’s top-flight sports car, but really, all it lacks is the rear wing of the ‘standard’ GT3: this is a raw and capable performance vehicle that just happens to be wrapped in some nice leather.
Drive’s Tom Fraser put it best in his review when he said that “it’s a car that wills you to drive it like you stole it… [which] flies in the face of the GT3 Touring’s subdued styling… [it’s] for those who fly under the radar, but still want just as unhinged an experience on the road as you’d get while driving a Carrera Cup car on a racetrack.”
To keep things horologically relevant, the car I reviewed had a Porsche Design dash clock, which the dial of the Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 Touring replicates. The strap of the watch is in the same supple tan leather as the car’s seats, and the automatic rotor is patterned after the car’s grey rims.
Now, the watch
Just as the Porsche 911 GT3 Touring is a wolf in sheep’s clothing of a car, its associated watch similarly requires a second look. Unlike the majority of Porsche Design chronographs, it’s actually a flyback chronograph, a feature that’s not immediately apparent unless you get in close and take a look at the itty-bitty ‘Flyback’ text in its chrono hours subdial. Another small detail that’s easily missed is the running seconds indicator at 9 o’clock: in the centre of the display, you’ll find the text ‘Born in Flacht’, referring to Porsche Motorsport’s facility, where the 911 GT3 is developed.
The running seconds is actually the most whimsical part of the watch: rather than utilising a hand, it instead features a rotating disc with a chequered flag motif on one half and a 911 GT3 badge on the other. It’s not particularly useful for tracking seconds, but it is useful for discerning if the watch is still running.
But it’s the flyback that’s the most exciting thing here. And again, there’s parallels to draw: if the 911 GT3 is the 911 with extra sauce, then this is the Porsche Design Chronograph with extra sauce… Also, just as there’s something indescribably special about rowing through the gears of a manual sports car, there are few things that beat the tactile pleasure of activating a flyback chronograph when it comes to timepieces.
Closing thoughts
As I’ve discussed in my previous reviews of Porsche Design watches, they can be cynically viewed as yet another expensive add-on to the cost of an already expensive vehicle, or they can represent the ultimate value add. The novelty of a watch that literally perfectly matches your car is, on face value, pretty sweet. It’s also worth considering that upper-echelon, halo supercars like the Porsche 911 GT3 are highly collectible vehicles in their own right, and for that future collector, one of these watches would be unbelievably desirable.
But I’m not here to speculate about future value or justify Porsche’s punchy pricing. Evaluating this watch on its merits, the Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 Touring is a competent and appealing prospect. This isn’t some co-branded fashion watch: this is a Swiss-made, in-house, flyback chronograph using premium materials (real luxury car leather!) that’s also an heir to a historically significant design lineage… Top Gun, anyone? It’s the best version of the Porsche Design Custom-Built Chronograph to date, partly because of its flyback function but also because of its association with the cream of the 911 crop.
It would be easy for me to wax lyrical here. The 911 GT3 Touring is a dream car. Probably my dream car. And if I had the odd A$600,000 spare to option one out in my perfect spec (for the record, the press car came pretty close, but I’d go for an Oak Green Metallic exterior at the very least), I’d be wanting one of these Porsche Design watches alongside it, to wear regardess of whether or not I’m behind the wheel.
Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 & 911 GT3 Touring pricing and availability
The Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 & 911 GT3 Touring are exclusively available to, you guessed it, owners of either the Porsche 911 GT3 or GT3 Touring, either through their authorised Porsche dealer or via Porsche’s online configurator. Price: starting at A$20,900, as tested A$23,900
Brand
Porsche Design
Model
Chronograph 911 GT3 & 911 GT3 Touring
Case Dimensions
42mm (D) x 15.33mm (T)
Case Material
Titanium or titanium with black titanium carbide coating
Water Resistance
50 metres, screw-down crown
Crystal(s)
Sapphire front and back
Dial
“GT” honeycomb pattern dial, customisable chapter ring
Strap
Genuine Porsche vehicle calfskin strap, case-matching deployant clasp
Movement
Porsche Design WERK 01.200, ETA/Valjoux 7750 base, automatic
Power Reserve
48 hours
Functions
Hours, minutes, running seconds, date, flyback chronograph
Availability
Exclusively available to Porsche 911 GT3 or GT3 Touring customers, custom-commissioned
Price
Dependent on customisation
Base price A$20,900
As tested A$23,900