Back To The Future: A Nod To Nostalgia With Kross Studio’s Latest Timepiece

Bazaar Arabia’s watch columnist Elizabeth Doerr reflects on the Swiss company Kross Studio’s joyful embrace of its nerdy side with its new Wonder Woman-themed tourbillon timepiece

‘Geek’ or ‘nerd’ describes someone who loves the minutiae of a topic, especially a less mainstream topic. In the watch world, this type of person can additionally be known as a WIS (watch idiot savant), and such people wear nicknames like these as a badge of honour.

There are times when two such intense worlds intersect – like within Kross Studio, an independent, fully fledged Swiss manufacturer. The five founders of Kross Studio, led by former RJ Romain Jérôme CEO Marco Tedeschi, have been involved in the watch industry throughout their careers, with the unofficial motto of their 2020-launched company being “art over watch.” Kross Studio prefers to take a broader artistic approach to its creations rather than a purely horological one while maintaining the extreme horological creativity inherent to high-end watchmaking like tourbillons.

The company’s owners are not only WIS, they are also nerds – comic and Star Wars nerds to be exact. Which is why Kross Studio has secured licenses for both Warner Bros/DC and Disney/Lucasfilm properties to make high horology limited editions and one-off collector’s pieces featuring Golden Age DC heroes (the Golden Age of comic books took place from 1938 to 1956) and/or Star Wars themes.

Following on 2021’s Death Star Tourbillon and subsequent Star Wars functional collectibles as well as Batman-themed timepieces starting with 2020’s 1989 Batmobile Desk Clock, Kross Studio now presents a unique tourbillon timepiece in tribute to DC superhero Wonder Woman, who was created by William Moulton Marston in 1941.

Naturally this isn’t just any watch. It is a timepiece fit for an Amazonian hero and as such it features a unique reading of the hours and minutes. The hour hand, which peeks out from behind the centrepiece representing Wonder Woman’s shield that seems to be held in place at 11 and 1 o’clock by the outline of her tiara – the Linguagraph Tiara made of Amazonium to us nerds – points to star-shaped hour markers using a representation of Wonder Woman’s Sword of Athena. Like the incessant march of time, the Sword of Athena can injure otherwise invulnerable beings (such as Justice League colleague Superman, though Wonder Woman would never do that to her friend). Wonder Woman’s shield holds two other points of interest on this watch’s dial: the Golden Lasso of Truth encircling the opening to reveal tantalising bits of the central tourbillon (and aiding in holding the shield in place at 7 and 5 o’clock) and the arced window displaying the minutes shown in increments of five.

“Kross Studio prefers to take a broader artistic approach to its creations than a purely horological one”

Elizabeth Doerr

The red, white, blue, and golden colour scheme of the watch represents Wonder Woman’s uniform along with the stars and stripes of the minute track encircling the periphery of the dial. The steel-grey colouring of the brushed grade 5 titanium case and dial plate as well as the visible screws remind us of the mechanical nature of the timepiece – and just perhaps of Wonder Woman’s famous invisible jet. They immediately conjured that association in my mind.

One may also notice there is no crown in the usual place on the side of the case. It was important to Kross Studio to ensure design symmetry, so the team instead placed a flush “time-set” button on the case to both set the time and wind the watch. The winding and setting are accomplished in conjunction with the so-called D-Ring Crown on the back of the watch, so named for its D shape, which allows it to be lifted up and then turned like a key. Not only is it more comfortable to use than a conventional crown, it also enables faster winding. The movement boasts five days’ worth of power reserve. By pressing the time-set button, the D-Ring Crown sets the time instead of winding the movement.

Also cool are the two pushers on the back of the watch, which when pushed release the strap, allowing for fast and easy strap changeability. The watch is delivered with three straps: blue calfskin, red alligator, and anthracite-grey goat leather.

The Kross Studio x Wonder Woman Tourbillon watch marks Kross Studio’s foray into one-off customisations, providing the young and flexible Swiss company with the opportunity to push the limits of high watchmaking as much as Wonder Woman pushes the Justice League with her strength and upright honesty. In the same way, the animation provided by the tourbillon is more important than the timekeeping here as an element that transforms this unique timepiece into both art and an expression of super-fandom.

While this Kross Studio x Wonder Woman tourbillon watch was a one-off, made-to-order commission timepiece, it doesn’t mean that Kross Studio can’t make another similar one. All you have to do is ask these ‘WIS nerds.’

Elizabeth Doerr is the editor-in-chief of QuillAndPad.com, a digital publication that keeps a watch on time.

Lead Image Supplied

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s March 2023 issue.