“That’s no moon. It’s a space station.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Swiss company Kross Studio, which just launched their first product, the 1989 Batmobile Desk Clock in November 2020, is reaching for the moon with a new collaboration with Lucasfilm.
Crafted to the finest standards of Swiss design and engineering, Kross Studio’s latest creation is a very limited Death Star-inspired Tourbillon timepiece of which they are only making 10 units of globally. Oh, you want to take on the Death Star? No one says it’s going to be cheap, as you need an X-Wing, help from the Millennium Falcon and, in this case, an additional US$150,000.
That’s right – you better tell Jabba Kross Studio you have their money. The timepiece even comes packed in a massive armoured crate and accompanied with a Kyber crystal prop, but more on that later.
With this timepiece, Kross Studio took up the challenge of the central tourbillon – a mechanical complication honoring the prominent Death Star. Featured in a 45 mm black DLC coated grade 5 titanium case, the tourbillon cage makes one revolution per minute.
The timepiece features a house-developed manual-winding mechanical movement that delivers a robust 5-day power reserve. The hands have been affixed to a peripheral display that orbits 360 degrees around the tourbillon. A traditional crown system has been replaced by an ingenious, inset push-button system.
Kross Studio developed a D-ring shaped crown on the case back for winding the watch, stowed out of sight to help maintain the timepiece’s sleek, space-age styling. These clean lines are also preserved by cleverly hiding quick-release buttons on the underside of the case that allows a quick change of the straps from the included calfskin leather strap to either of the two other included rubber straps.
Lets take a closer look at some of the intricate details which Star Wars fans will greatly appreciate:
- The movement wheels (gears) are Galactic Empire emblem-shaped.
- The inset push button located between the 3 and 4 o’clock position has “TIME SET” engraved in Aurebesh script.
- The hour hand embodies an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer while the minute hand embodies the Super-Class Star Destroyer.
- The Tourbillon cage features the northern hemisphere of the Death Star and its green superlaser canon.
- The watch strap is embossed with the Death Star surface pattern.
- The fixed hour wheel is composed of white superluminova elements with blue emission, directly inspired from the lighting panels as seen inside the Death Star and Imperial vessels.
Each timepiece comes packed in an armoured crate fans should be familiar with, as it was seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. These orange containers are used to store and transport Kyber crystals from the mines to the Death Star. In case you didn’t know, these are the very same crystals that are used for the construction of lightsabers, which are also used as the main source of energy for the Death Star superlaser. In this case, each container is made of wood, aluminium and black polymer, and measures 1200mm long, 568mm wide and 478mm tall, which is scaled to half of what was seen in the film. Fully hand-assembled and hand-painted, and it carries accurately reproduced control panels and a backlit manifest panel inscribed in Aurebesh.
On the inside, the container is divided into 9 storage units. 3 of the slots carry the following items in 3 removeable capsules:
- The Death Star Tourbillon Watch.
- 3 swappable watch straps with grade 5 titanium deployment buckles (x1 black rubber strap embossed with the pattern by the Death Star surface, x1 gray calf leather strap embossed with the same Death Star surface pattern, x1 red rubber strap with red stitching and reinforced with a black rubber inlay).
- A genuine movie prop Kyber crystal as seen in the film.
The other 6 free storage spaces offer ample storage space for collectors to house their other personal Star Wars collectibles.
According to Kross Studio, these 10 pieces of Death Star Tourbillon timepieces are but the first of many more exciting Star Wars-inspired products to come, some of which will be more affordable (phew).
Here are the detailed technical specifications for the watch:
| Model Name | Death Star Tourbillon (SWDST21) |
| Limited Edition | 2- numbered pieces |
| Parts | 281 |
| International Warranty | 2 + 3 years |
| Case | Black DLC coated grade 5 titanium Dome-shaped anti-reflective sapphire crystal Push-button with Aurebesh script “Time Set” |
| Diameter | 45mm |
| Thickness | 20mm |
| Thickness w/o crystal | 12.5mm |
| Water resistance | 30 metres (3 ATM) |
| Case-back | Grade 5 titanium 4 anti-reflective sapphire crystals D-ring crown to set time and wind |
| Caliber | MKS7000 |
| Functions | Manual-winding central tourbillon |
| Frequency | 21’600 bph / 3Hz |
| Jewels | 27 |
| Movement Parts | 203 |
| Power Reserve | 5 days |
Yonk is a geek who is fortunate enough to have an equally geeky Star Wars fan for a wife, who owns a LEGO Millennium Falcon encased in a glass coffee table as their home’s centre-piece.
Natalie
