Porsche Design Group / Porsche Licensing and Trading Company mbH & Co. KG (emerged from Porsche Design GmbH)

company logo

Dr. Jürgen Gessler, CEO/PORSCHE DESIGN GROUP

PORSCHE DESIGN Heritage P'6530

design company

Company development

Porsche Design GmbH was founded in 1972 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (1935-2012). Previously, he, like all other Porsche family members, had relinquished operational activities at the sports car manufacturer Porsche following a decree by Luise Piech and Ferry Porsche (children and heirs of Dr. Ing. hc Ferdinand Porsche). Until 1974, Porsche Design GmbH was headquartered in Stuttgart, then Ferdinand Alexander Porsche relocated his design studio to Zell am See, Austria. Today, Porsche Design is a brand within the Porsche Design Group, which also owns Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.

Porsche Design develops products sold under its own brand names, "Porsche Design," and "Design by FA Porsche." The latter is now used for industrial products, household appliances, and consumer goods for internationally renowned clients. Some products developed by the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See bear a combination of names or brands with which license agreements exist or have existed. The best-known examples are the collaborations with the watch manufacturers IWC ( Porsche Design by IWC , 1978 to 1998) and Eterna AG Uhrenfabrik (1998 to 2014).

In 2003, Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche sold the majority shares of his previously independent company, Porsche Design. Since then, the former company has been a holding company called the Porsche Design Group, owned by Porsche AG and the Porsche family. The holding company includes Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG (PLH), based in Ludwigsburg (Germany), and the Porsche Design Studio, which is still headquartered in Zell am See (Austria). Therefore, it is logical that the Porsche Design Studio website, http://www.porsche-design.at , states: "Porsche, Porsche Design, and the Porsche Design logo are trademarks of Dr. Ing. hc F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft." This ultimately reverts all rights to the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG, for which Professor F.A. Porsche worked as a young designer from 1958 to 1972.

Dr. (rer. pol.) Jürgen Geßler (* 27.5.1964) has been Chairman of the Executive Board of the Porsche Design Group since 2007. He previously worked for five years as Head of Marketing at Porsche Deutschland GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen.

Products

Porsche Design develops products sold under its own brand names "Porsche Design" and "Design by FA Porsche." The latter is now used in industrial products, household appliances, and consumer goods for internationally renowned clients. The products are designed in the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See, Austria, and sold worldwide in Porsche Design Group stores, shop-in-shops, through select department stores and specialist retailers, and through the official online shop. Porsche Design Centers (automotive) also sell licensed products from the Porsche Design Group under the "Driver's Selection" label.

Some products developed by Porsche Design bear a combination of names or brands with which license agreements exist or have existed. The most well-known examples are the cooperation with the watch manufacturers IWC (1978 to 1998) and Eterna AG Uhrenfabrik (1998 to 2014).

The Porsche Design founder created a groundbreaking milestone in watch design with his 1972 design of the world's first all-black wristwatch (the Orfina Porsche Design Chronograph I, Ref. 7750). In 1980, commissioned by IWC (International Watch Company, Schaffhausen), he created designs for the first watch with a case and bracelet made entirely of titanium (" IWC Porsche Design Ocean "). After four years of development, Porsche Design launched the "P'6910 Indicator" model, the first chronograph with a mechanical-digital display, in 2005 with Eterna. Its black case is made of PVD-coated titanium, and the bracelet is made of black rubber. The purchase price is well into the six-figure range.

The Porsche Design Group is said to be considering developing its own to produce watches .

Watch models (excerpt)

• Porsche Design Chrono I ( Orfina Swiss SA )
• Porsche Design by IWC compass watch
• Porsche Design by IWC Titanium Chronograph (Reference: 3700)
• Porsche Design by IWC Chrono II
• Porsche Design by IWC Ocean 2000
• Porsche Design Quartz Chronograph Moonphase (Reference: 3738)
• Porsche Design P'6920 Rattrapante
• Porsche Design P'6910 Indicator