Swiss design house Kross Studio was created in 2020 by executives and creatives fleeing the wreckage of RJ as it slumped into bankruptcy in the early months of the pandemic.
Its unstated mission was to take the irreverent spirit of RJ — a business that brought us haute horology watches featuring icons such as The Joker, Pac Man, Spiderman and Donkey Kong — but execute the strategy with a much tighter eye on the bottom line.
Kross Studio’s first watch was the Death Star Tourbillon, a 10-piece limited edition designed to look like Darth Vader’s planet-killing space station from the original 1977 Star Wars movie.
It is no kid’s watch, but a high end complicated piece built around a central tourbillon that will appeal more to people that were teenagers in the seventies and are now enjoying the freedom and wealth of 30 years at work.
It retailed for $150,000.
Kross followed up with a Batmobile desk clock and another central tourbillon watch, this time in collaboration with the Space Jam franchise, and priced at $100,000.
Today, Kross is back reaching out to its middle-aged Star Wars fans with a watch winder made in collaboration with Lucasfilm in the shape of Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced X1 Starfighter.
It is made from solid black anodized aluminum and measures 20cm long, 28cm wide, and
17cm high. It weighs a hefty 4kg.
The Kross Studio TIE Advanced X1-themed watch winding sculpture is on sale from today for $2,500 on krossstudio.com and at select authorised Kross Studio retailers for a limited time only.
