Kross as in the ‘X’ symbol that indicates a collaboration; the “collabs” that are all the rage in contemporary watchmaking. As the business model for its (re)launch, Louis Érard has shown what a successful collab can achieve.
Kross Studio has lassoed and lightsabered its way into the “Marvelous” universe beloved of co-founder Marco Tedeschi, and secured collaborations with global franchises such as Batman, Space Jam, Wonder Woman and Transformers. The question being, how did an upstart brand manage to obtain that coveted ®?
“Thanks to contacts I had at RJ-Romain Jérôme,” says Tedeschi, ex-Hublot and ex-RJ. It was during his time at RJ that the young entrepreneur contacted the studios. When the company closed down, he got back in touch. “We were in the middle of lockdown when we flew to Los Angeles and San Francisco to meet the studios. We came with a brand, Kross Studio, that had virtually nothing to show in terms of products, and ideas for watches under licence at CHF 150,000. They said OK, let’s do it.”
Dream team
Business is business: getting these entertainment giants onboard meant there had to be something more than ideas. In addition to solid experience gained at Hublot and RJ, Marco Tedeschi brought to the table detailed drawings, a fleet of machines plus a contracting business that guaranteed financial independence and, travelling with him, Sergio Silva - the brains behind Hysek’s extraordinary movements including the superlative-busting Kolossal - who had joined Tedeschi at RJ.
There you had it: heaps of talent, innovative ideas, the means to produce them and complete independence (Kross Studio is to this day majority-owned by Marco Tedeschi).
Swiss-made madness
Three years later, the fundamentals of the brand haven’t changed. Creative thinking and technical skills continue to feed off and drive each other. The products are offbeat, playful and immersed in the culture of the major US entertainment franchises. They are also underpinned by the excellence and precision of Swiss watchmaking. ArtyA springs to mind: the brand made its breakthrough with highly creative, deliberately provocative products then eased into stable and (sometimes) more orthodox collections.
A floating tourbillon
Although Kross Studio hasn’t reached that stage yet - the brand is still riding media enthusiasm for Disney and Warner licences to win over collectors nostalgic for the 1990s and 2000s – it is laying the groundwork for its next step.
While still an engineering student, Marco Tedeschi designed a tourbillon movement that caught the interest of a certain Jean-Claude Biver (and got him his first job, at Hublot). This tourbillon is now in production at Kross Studio.
Tedeschi has turned it into an ingenious floating central tourbillon on a Stars-Wars inspired raised platform. The result is technically advanced and as elegant as it is original. Within the next two to three years, the launch of regular collections will give Kross Studio a stable base, a move already outlined by the KS 05 collection. More will follow “with different complications, alongside simpler hence more affordable movements. We also plan to bring decoration in-house and beef up teams to around 20 people [versus the current 12], although we intend to keep business on a human scale.”
