Orlando Bloom, Ben Clymer, And Ferdi Porsche Talk Porsche's Lasting Legacy

About eight months ago or so, the company that I founded, Hodinkee, was acquired by Watches Switzerland. It was a great moment for me after working so hard for so many years. And in one of the first meetings that I had with Mr. Hurley, David, who was on stage before, who's our deputy CEO, he said, give us a few brands that you think that we don't work with that we should be working. And at the top of the list, sincerely, was Porsche Design. And we've done a collaboration with Porsche Design, which I'm actually wearing. Ferdy is a good friend of mine and of the show. He's been a guest on Talking Watches, amazing collection of all watches and some cars there too, I think. I was fanboying myself. And he's been a guest on my podcast. And so, you know, when David and I were talking about brands that I think that I thought could really add something to Watches Switzerland, which is one of the biggest watch retailers in the world, Porsche Design was it. I mean, it was really something that had something so special. And Porsche for me has meant so much. I mean, I'm a collector of Porsche, Porsche Design watches. It was something that I didn't grow up with. I wasn't lucky enough to grow up with a Porsche, but Volkswagen and other kind of cars that are adjacent to the Porsche family have meant so much to me. So it means a great deal to me to be up here with both of you guys. So, you know, this is a really fun night for us because we get to celebrate Porsche Design and Watches of Switzerland. Having Ferdy here, having the Orlando Bloom here is pretty exciting. But Ferdy, why don't you talk a little bit about your kind of history growing up as a member of the Porsche family? Good question. So I think the cool thing is that it's pretty easy to like our product, right? So I think that makes it easier. No, obviously, in the beginning, you don't know that it's special in a sense, right? And you really grow up as a fan of the brand. I grew up on all sorts of racetracks and always very close to the brand. And then at some point, you realize how excited people get by the product and how much excitement in general and how big the community is around the brand, which I think is still to this day incredible. And it's cool to see it growing and it's cool to see it becoming younger and younger by the day. And yeah, so the beginning for my love for watches actually starts with a Porsche design watch. So my dad bought the 25th anniversary Chrono One. I was like five or so back then. He didn't give it to me then. He gave it to me when I was like 15 or 16. And it actually was the first watch that like made it to my wrist that stayed. So it was kind of like, even though I would never back then wear stuff that said Porsche, because as a kid, you don't like in school, right? You don't, you rather want to be one of like, you don't want to stand out. Sure. So it was kind of crazy that that watch kind of like made it to my wrist and then stayed. Yeah. And I think, you know, something I'm a storyteller kind of by trade. And I think something that is so remarkable and how I fell in love with Porsche design to begin with is hearing the story of how the Chrono One kind of came to be. And it was designed by your uncle, who also designed the 904 and the 911. So it has pretty good design pedigree, I would say. Yeah. I think basically it was Porsche design's first product. So after 904 and 911, I think you can really tell like the lineage of design pieces that it like kind of represents and that it's a part of. I think my uncle was like a true, like a designer in the sense that he always wanted to make things better. And like, he kept on doing things one after the other, and he didn't leave time for it to like, he didn't leave much time between, right? Like when one product was done, he wanted to do the next and the next and the next. And I think that's a really inspiring and cool thing. And seeing the watches now coming back as like really the centerpiece of Porsche design is really a cool moment. And I think it really is the centerpiece of the brand. Yeah. And it still means a lot to your family. Yeah. I mean, like the studios in Selhamsee is also our kind of second home. Then obviously the bigger part of the company sits in Stuttgart. But it's still, everybody kind of has a, has an emotional feeling to it. Like everybody got some cool gift at some point from, from my uncle. And I think he was like, just a really cool, calm, enthusiastic. That's cool. A gift from F.A. Porsche, right? Not so bad. Yeah. Shame he's not here to do that. Yeah. So we'll come back here. We'll talk some cars a little bit later, but Orlando Bloom. So why are you here? Good question. I think my love for Porsche design started at a very young age. Actually in the design space, I bought the sunglasses, the original aviators. I think I saw them in like a boot fair or something. I used to go and collect stuff like that. And they were like, you know, the iconic. I grew up in Canterbury and when I was about 14, I was with a friend and we sort of glided past this nine 11, a vintage nine 11. And I was like, I just, we got photos in front of it. It was like the typical like kid thing, but it was like, I was like, I'm going to own one of these cars one day. And, and like you, I've, you know, been fortunate to, to work with many different brands over the years and adjacent to Porsche. And I was, and I was given like press cars to drive. But the first car that I actually, when I could afford to buy such a vehicle was, was a nine 11 S from 1973, which I still own, which is still probably one of my favorite cars to drive, which is like a really, and like literally it never goes wrong, but when it goes wrong, if there's anything, it's like a couple of hundred bucks to fit. It's just like, but the experience, the feeling of, of being a part of the Porsche family or driving the vehicle and then moving into the time pieces, which was, you know, something that felt so symbiotic and perfect. It's, it's like, it's just, it's a timeless design that's, that's got running all the way through this family. And it's, you know, it's truly an iconic brand. And I, you know, I worked long and hard to, to kind of make my presence felt with the brand, which I could tell you about, but yeah. So, I mean, just because this is a room full of black, black and tan and original factory, like AC, which still blows ice cubes and sunroof, which works. And it's just like, ah, it's like a hallelujah of a car really. It's just like, and then I grew up, um, I had spent many years living in Malibu. So I used to go on dates and terrify by days as I spun through the canyons, which is like one place that you can do that to some degree, but it was, it was, um, yeah, it was, it's, uh, it remains one of my favorites. And the car is still in LA still. Yeah. That's a good place for that car. Good car. Good place. And so you, you don't know this, but when, when I was starting her dinky early on, there were just a few young, cool guys into watches and you were chief among them and you were known as a watch guy and you were into vintage Rolex and tech and other brands. So you really are a watch person. Yeah. Well that started actually, I bought my first watch at 16. So I moved to London and I did an episode of a TV show, which is kind of iconic, but it was, I got my paycheck and my grandfather was a collector of watches. So he will not collect it. That's not true. He owned two Amigas. Okay. He had a gold and a steel. I got the steel and my other older cousins got the cult, but he would talk about these watches incessantly. He also, he also owned like a camera and he lived in India and he was like one of these like, like iconic characters in my mind growing similar to your grandfather's relationship. But so because of his obsession with timepieces, the first thing I did with my paycheck, I went to the Burlington arcade, to the watch club, and I bought a Navitimer from 1963 and I still own it. I haven't sold a watch. Yeah. I still own my collection, but, and then every movie or job that I did or anything where I had a paycheck come in, I would go and buy myself a timepiece. And, and so, yeah, over the years, you know, I started with vintage Rolex cause I kind of, you know, that's, it was a sort of very good place to start. And I made, um, made some, some headway there. And then as I, as I kind of, uh, you know, moved on, I started with some Patek and a little bit of AP, which I worked with, I think, you know, also great design, but it wasn't until like, you know, I, I, I sort of, I knew about the Porsche that the 1972, the chronograph one. And it was sort of like, it's just, I've like, like buddy, I've never, I just don't take it off. I don't miss anything, which is sort of weird. Cause I have a great collection, which I also kind of think of as like, it's almost like an asset, you know, like I said, they don't like famously, I had a bunch of watches stolen. So now my watches live somewhere very safe. I understood that noted. Um, um, but, um, but it just, it's, it's just so easy to wear. And of course, we're excited to be here today to introduce something that we'll, we'll see soon, but it's like, it's, um, it's, it's just an authentic story that I think when you have, you know, when you build a relationship, when it's, when it comes from passion and pure love, it just feels so right. You know, it's like, and from the cars to the watches, to the glasses, to the lug, it's just, it's a whole, it just, I, I, I feel a certain way, you know what I mean? When you kind of like driving the car, having the watch with the car, having the, and you know, I think with collecting, you know, when you become passionate about collecting and I think it's important for young people, you know, when they look at collecting to understand what they're collecting and why, you know, like I did buy Blancpain and I bought, you know, vintage IWC military watches. I started at that kind of an Omegas and like I had, so I started at a very, and then I built into, you know, and I really just bought with, um, a feeling, you know, I bought with, um, like an aesthetic, a look and a feel. And, and, and, and so when you talk about this watch, it's sort of, it hits all the bases, you know, and it's wonderful that we're in watches in Switzerland. It's, it's the perfect place for it. So it's great that we can do that. You know, in, in, in my kind of previous job as, as a journalist, you know, I would, I would go visit all these factories. I've been inside Rolex, Patek, et cetera. And, you know, I used to say that the more you learn about a brand, you either begin to really love them, you know, and you really say, okay, wow, this really is the real deal. Or you say, okay, maybe it's maybe not the real deal. And Porsche design, the more I learned about it, the more I realized this was extremely the real deal. And obviously the original ones made by Orfina, et cetera, but now made in-house in Switzerland. And as I was doing research for a previous Porsche design project, I saw some incredible old photos of people in period wearing this watch. So Ralph Lauren wore this watch in the seventies when he was selling his highest door to door, which is just incredible and see Ralph in the seventies doing that. This producer that quite famously, there was a story in the New Yorker about John Lennon's Patek 2499, quite famously. And the producer that was in the studio that day when that watch of Lennon wearing the watch was taken, he was wearing a Chrono One Porsche design. I mean, it's just like the stuff you can't make up. His wife was always famously wearing the shades. That's right. Yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah. So you see these iconic people that are associated with Porsche design really organically. How does it feel to be a part I mean, like, you know, it was a, it was a road because so having bought the car, I actually got an allocation for a touring maybe four and a half years ago. And I flew myself to Stuttgart to work with the Sun Orange team and build like my, see a lot of head nods, my dream, my dream vehicle, Underbird green and tan interior with a two-tone tan interior with every aspect of it completely buttoned off. And it's like, I don't know, like, I think the reason, you know, as a, as a man, you know, you, you, you, the childhood memories, like feed into the experience of, of doing this. And so when I, I first went there, I was like, obviously I met the Sun Orange team and some of the, some of the key players over there at Porsche. And I think they appreciated that my passion was there. And then I actually got an opportunity to come back to Stuttgart, which I jumped at. And, and it was then that like, I think it was like, okay, you really do see what we're trying to do here. And, you know, as a family business, as an iconic brand, as a timeless design, it's sort of just like, I think things come and go in life, right? There are trends, there are like, there are moments, there are, there are things, but like, whether it's the watch or the car, it's just, it just, it's never not, you never lose. Like you never lose on one of these vehicles or on the, on the watch. It's like, it just, because each, the thought and dedication that's gone into each car, each time piece, whether it's the luggage or the glasses, it's just, it has, it has that timeless feel. I mean, as you know, it's like, this does not look like a watch made in the seventies necessarily. It could be it's, it's very contemporary in its design as well, but that's, that's why it works. And Ferdi, for you, I mean, as, as a, as a member of the Porsche family, what, what does the brand mean to you today versus, you know, maybe 10 years ago or so? And what's changed about how you guys manufacture? I mean, obviously you guys are famous, as Orlando said, for the quality of your cars. How do the watches kind of emulate that? So I think it's really cool. I mean, my, my, my uncle got, got really sick in like the early two thousands and then died in 2012. So I feel like now seeing the, the time pieces being like made in-house again and like really, or not again, made in-house for the first time. Plus like really like the effort that goes into making them exactly the way they were back then. Like it feels really cool that this is kind of the start to, to, to bringing back like a part of his legacy in a sense. So I interned at Porsche Design once when I was, when I wasn't sure if I want to study architecture or product design, I decided I want to go for bigger scale. Yeah. How'd you get the job? I just knocked on the door. No, it was actually, it was actually really cool, like in Salamzee. And that obviously like really changed my, like I had the watch and I had the story of like, this is the first watch, like this is the first, this is the watch that made me wear watches basically on a daily basis. Yeah. So I kind of already had the, had the love for Porsche Design, but obviously working there is different, right? His office is still untouched. So it's kind of cool to like sneak in there and like look at some drawings or like go through the books that he had. There's a secret drawer with some alcohol. So yeah, working there was really cool. And then obviously now I'm a, I'm a part of the, of the board also, which is really exciting because you see all the, like the whole picture basically. And it's yeah, I'm like really passionate about the brand. As I said, it's really easy to, to are excited about cool products. And as an architect also, obviously I think about product and design and how things work and, and yeah, just think the cultural power, as you said. There are certain brands that weather the storms, right? Like of life and of as progress and things. And that stems from, I think an original idea and design that like is impeccable. And you know, many years ago, I mean, I'm obviously so thrilled to be on stage with the two of you. And I think something that always comes in mind was many years ago, I was at an event with Johnny I from Apple and Pierre-Alexis Dumas, whose family owns Hermès. And Pierre-Alexis got up and said, best partnerships are those where you have peers that don't need one another, that they're, they're doing something by choice. And as far as I know, I don't think you need to be here. I think you want to be here. And I think that the same could be said for, for Ferdy and Porsche. And I think the idea of you guys coming together, and then of course, you know, Watchtizen Switzerland coming here and, you know, to, to David's credit, not my credit at all, I'm new around here, but you know, Watchtizen Switzerland has become one of the largest retailers in the world publicly listed in the UK. Just an amazing, you know, opportunity for, I think everyone involved to kind of get the word out there about Porsche design. So I know we're all really thrilled to have you here. Before we, we kind of wrap things up, I need to ask the question, favorite Porsche of all time. Well, I have to say my 73 from like my 911 for 73 is kind of in there, but like, I, I, yeah, I mean, I'm, I sort of want to work on a wide body next. I want to kind of, I actually want to kind of take a barn find and do something super unique with the... Like a resto mark? Yeah, like a resto. I want to kind of do something that like reclaims, I think, because the brand is so iconic, you, you know, I mean, we all think about, you know, the world that we're living in, the environment and so on. And I think there's, there's an aspect of taking these remarkable vehicles and then like reclaiming them and putting them on the roads. It's like, it's just, there's something that's very visceral feeling about it. So yeah, I'm looking at, at some of that, but, but my, my, I, I, I'll never not love my, my S and my son will probably get it one day because it's never leaving the family, but yeah. Love it. I give a different answer to this question every always. I think you asked, I did last time. It's my favorite question to ask you. Yeah. Because I give a different answer. And GT1. Okay. This time GT1, we're in New York. Feels like we have to do something out there. You want to explain to the, the artists what a GT1 is? So GT1 was a car that was developed for racing. And back in the days you had to build streetcars to qualify to race in Le Mans and the endurance championships. And there were, I think 22 or 23 of them made back in the days. And there's one specific one I'm going to like, there's one specific one that is my favorite, actually. It's the 1998 street version because it was already legible for the first years, but then they had to like, we changed the design a little bit, made it more aerodynamic. And that's also the year we won Le Mans. And so there's only one of that very body style and has a sequential gearbox. And I actually drove it in the wet on Gold's Glockner. And it's probably my favorite day ever. And that's one by the factory I take it? Yeah. Yeah. So are you able to drive any car you want in the museum? Um, I don't know if I come up with a good excuse. Yes. And can we join the next time you come? He did send me a bit, by the way, he sent me a video, a crazy video. Like he's ice racing in the Netherlands somewhere, I think. And in Sweden. And like, there's this video and literally he's like, they're like gunning it through this ice. This is ice lanes. And like, suddenly it's cars upside down. And I'm like, wait, what? Did I just see that? And I'm like, I'm like, bro, are you okay? He's like, yeah, dude, we flipped it over and drove it off. I'm like, there's the design for you. You know what I mean? It's like, it's just like, it's kind of bulletproof. It's sort of like, yeah, there's usually I do keep it on the road. It was a cool moment. It wasn't like, but yeah, I'm sure. But rallying is fun. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of cool. You kick the windscreen So to wrap it all up. So as of today, Porsche design will be in Washington, this one store. So right here in Soho, obviously also in Las Vegas. So we're happy to be an authorized dealer of Porsche design and really the first, you know, kind of watch a store to carry the brand United States. So a big deal for us. But before we wrap things up in totality, we have something to talk about today, right? I think we have something new to reveal. It's your guy's show from here. What, what is it? Very exciting. So in 75, so three years after, after the original chrono one, the first black watch back in the days, my uncle brought out the watch uncoated. So it was like sort of the same watch basically, but uncoated. And since nowadays, everything we do is in titanium. And also my uncle was the first guy who built a titanium watch. I think that's like a whole story that derived from racing also. We are now presenting an uncoated titanium chrono one. That's cool. Let's have a look. And I think we have a video. The great thing about these watches as well is there's like fine detail to a collector. Each is slightly different. I'm wearing a Porsche club of America, but I have the chrono. It's like, there's a few like, like, I think when you're collecting watches, you want like, you want to have something to aspire to and to build, you know, and when you get into the detail of the slight differences on different pieces to build a collection, it's cool that we can, we can really reveal this watch to add to a, you know, and to a collector spirit. Yeah. Life is about the little things. And I think today we're introducing a whole new It's all in the details. You get it. That's right. So today we'll be revealing eminently a new limited edition chrono one in, in untreated effectively titanium. And we have it here. And I think we have a video to play for you guys as well.