Porsche Design · Chronograph 1 by Orfina
The model in detail
Meet the watch
Maverick has an object that connects the two films as effectively as the aircraft and the old leather jacket. The black Porsche Design Chronograph 1 by Orfina appears on Tom Cruise's wrist again in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick. The films are 36 years apart. The object's own history is particularly appealing: the watch used in the filming of 1986's Top Gun was brought back for the sequel.
Property master Robbie Duncan confirmed this in a Hodinkee interview published on March 12, 2023. According to his account, producer Jerry Bruckheimer had kept the original watch in a safe. During the new production, it travelled from the safe to the set and back. Porsche also recounts the story in its Christophorus magazine. The cinematic accessory gains a biography of its own, beyond a successful appearance in a close-up.
EnlargeTom Cruise with his black Porsche Design in the first Top Gun (1986). The frame appears in the interview with the sequel's property master.
© © Paramount Pictures · SourceThe Chronograph 1 itself arrived in 1972. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche brought the logic of automotive instruments to a watch: dark surfaces, contrasting indicators and minimal distracting shine. Porsche calls it the first all-black chronograph. That appearance works well on screen: the eye finds the scales and hands, while the case stays a quiet frame around them.
Details and limitations
Historic automatic Porsche Design by Orfina chronographs were produced with different movements; Porsche mentions the Valjoux 7750 and Lemania 5100. Neither the brand's official account nor the property master's interview provides a technical record for the particular screen watch, however. I therefore leave its exact reference, calibre and power reserve unconfirmed. A black case and a similar arrangement of counters cannot by themselves replace identification of the individual watch.
The modern Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition, released for the fiftieth anniversary in 2022, belongs to another chapter of the story. Porsche specifies a titanium case, sapphire crystal and automatic WERK 01.140 with COSC certification. Those specifications describe the reissue. The vintage Orfina returned to the screen; buying today's Chronograph 1 provides a related design, but not the same filming object.
EnlargeThe Porsche Design is visible again on Maverick's wrist in the 2022 film. This is the vintage screen watch rather than the anniversary reissue.
© © Paramount Pictures · SourceIf looking for a vintage Porsche Design after seeing the film, I would start with caseback photographs, the exact model designation and its service history. Only then would I compare the dial and the condition of the black coating. The screen Chronograph 1's most attractive quality is its continuity: the watch lived a whole life between two films and returned to the wrist of the same character.