Kross Studio: creating functional art

Marco Tedeschi, Founder @ Kross Studio, sat down with us during Dubai Watch Week to describe how he and his partners envision Kross Studio, and discuss projects – past and future…

Can you tell us how Kross started?

My four partners and I wanted to start a new type of company that not only produces watches, but creates functional art pieces. We also create collectors’ sets. For instance, in our Star Wars watch, you do not just buy a watch; the biggest attraction is not the watch itself, but the container for the watch. The container is a replica of an original movie prop from “Star Wars” and it contains as well in one of its capsules, a prop that was featured in one of the movies. This is why we call it the Ultimate Collectors’ Set; eventually you have a piece of art – a prop from the movie – at home. And when you are away from home, your watch will remind you of the art piece at home.

That is the whole idea behind Kross Studio; not only to create a product but create experiences and storytelling behind the product. Till now, we have created 3 watches, but we are also creating other types of products, such as watch winders and watch rolls – all related to watches. Next year, we are planning to launch a product not related to watches. The common link between all our products is the knowledge and craftsmanship that we have gained from watchmaking, such as finishings, will all be implemented with the same high standards of Swiss watchmaking.

How did you manage to get the licence for the Star Wars collection?

I already had a contact at Walt Disney because in my previous role, I used to work with Marvel. When we started Kross Studio, I contacted the people in California to present the concept of the Star Wars Collectors’ set, and they were very interested. The Star Wars set that we created is the most expensive licence product ever made for Star Wars. They were highly interested in working on the smallest details and understood what we wanted to create. We had signed a contract for two years and are now in the process of renewing it because we have a number of projects lined up.

Why did you decide on a Batmobile as your first Kross project?

We wanted a project related to watches because all the five of us – partners – have a watchmaking background, but we did not want to appear as another watch brand. We decided to go with a clock; I always wanted to create a clock car and we were brainstorming about the type of car. As most watchmakers have partnerships with car brands, we wanted a partnership that is out of this world – literally, a fictional car. For me, the 1989 Batmobile is one of the most iconic cars in the film industry, and that is why we chose that as our first product.

What was Warner Bros. reaction to the final product?

They were amazed at the result, as this is not something that they were used to doing. The Batmobile was selected at many awards ceremonies in the licensing world. The International World License Award recognises the best licensed product and we were nominated in several categories for them. This is something very interesting for them, and we are now discussing further opportunities where our products may be a part of their universe as well. There will be very nice products launched in the beginning of next year, which will be linked to the upcoming Batman movie from Warner Bros.

Why Space Jam?

Three of the five partners of Kross Studio are “retired basketball players”, and we were all kids when the first “Space Jam” movie came out. The movie was a revolution; the first time a movie had cartoon characters and live action, with Michael Jordan – the legendary basketball player, and we loved the idea of creating something related to these childhood memories. Our tourbillon movement KS 7,000 was the perfect base to create a product related to basketball, and that is why we created a tourbillon movement in the shape of a ball.

Now, we have 3 watches: the Star Wars, Space Jam, and Lotus Tourbillon – our latest collaboration with Alain Silberstein. He contacted us in August 2021 and told us that he loved the concept of the tourbillon in the centre and the construction of our watches. I invited him for a meeting in our studio to get to know each other. Within a few hours, we had come up with this concept. It was nice to have a collaboration with a watch architect, and we wanted to dedicate this product to Asia mainly, with the lotus flower as the centrepiece on top of the tourbillon.