Chanel looks to hone its high-end know-how with investment in Kross Manufacture

Borna Bošnjak

In a time when luxury conglomerate powerhouses are experiencing losses, cutting personnel, and offloading brands, Chanel is increasingly diversifying its watchmaking portfolio. The iconic Parisian house has long fancied itself as a watchmaker too, and not just with the haute fashion watch J12 line, though it never made the waves it was perhaps hoping for when it comes to enthusiast circles. But no bother, as Chanel has instead branched off in two ways; the first being a focus on high-end, complicated watchmaking with an impressive use of materials (the J12 X-Ray being one of them); and the other by investing behind the scenes, both in terms of manufacturing as well as investing in respected, independent watchmaking brands.

Chanel’s involvement with Kenissi is well-documented with a 20% ownership stake, as is its F.P. Journe partnership, alongside an undisclosed percentage of Romain Gauthier, and a significant 25% slice of the MB&F pie announced in 2024. The Maison’s latest acquisition, however, may seem a little out of character at first, considering the scale of some of the aforementioned brands. And yet, Chanel’s purchase of a 30% stake in Kross Manufacture could prove to be its most significant so far. Let me explain why.

Superheroes and precision manufacturing

Building his watchmaking portfolio under the Kross Studio brand, founder Marco Tedeschi’s creative output has largely centred around Ikepod-like, pebble cases housing floating central tourbillons or a colourway from a recognisable pop-culture reference, or both. Whether it’s Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Space Jam or Batman, these themed tie-ins have often overshadowed what’s actually beneath, which is an impressively manufactured timepiece that’s made pretty much completely in-house. With the relatively small output of the Kross Studio brand, Tedeschi has made the most of these manufacturing capabilities by producing components for other brands, whether it’s the design of movements, CNC machining, or small-scale decoration.

The watch that is looking to change the brand’s perception from an expensive merch-maker to a respected independent is also coincidentally the first that Tedeschi has actually put his name on – think about the Kross MT-1 like the Rexhep Rexhepi series in the wider Akrivia brand. The case retains its space-age design by integrating the winding and time-setting into a caseback-positioned crown, which also reduces the force that the powerful mainspring providing seven days of power reserve would output on a traditional crown stem of a much smaller diameter. Unlike Kross’ signature, central tourbillon, the MT-1 moves it to 6 o’clock but retains the flying configuration, with the open bridges of the KS 7010 movement enveloped around it.

More than just portfolio expansion

The most interesting tidbit is that Chanel has invested in Kross Manufacture specifically, providing Kross with the capital needed to advance their capabilities, while allowing Chanel to tap into it for their own needs. While I doubt that we’ll be seeing a miniature Coco Chanel piloting an X-Wing and destroying the Death Star any time soon, this is a promising development for the brand’s own watches.

It’s also important to look at this in the context of Chanel’s overall independent shopping spree. As I mentioned at the start of this article, one of their more significant investments is in that of Kenissi, which has allowed them to stop relying on industry giants like Sellita and ETA keeping the lights on for their entry-level collections, though this does mean that we probably won’t see any J12 oddities with AP movements any time soon.

With that awkwardness side-stepped, Chanel also needed a way to forward their haute horlogerie work. The G&F Châtelain manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds (which was bought outright by Chanel in 1993) has been its main source of high-end movements. However, judging by the story so far, it doesn’t have the resources to design and produce a movement befitting the high standards that Chanel demands from start to finish. This makes complete sense, considering G&F Châtelain never outright specialised in movement-making, but rather cases and bracelets – something Chanel has got down to a T. The Calibre 1, the Maison’s first in-house venture, was designed and manufactured with the help of Romain Gauthier – coincidentally, another business in the Chanel portfolio.

Recognising the savoir faire of Kross Manufacture, Chanel clearly thought it prudent to expand their reach with a marque that has experience in specialised work for third-party clientele, and this is where it differs from their involvement with the likes of F.P. Journe and MB&F. In the case of those two, Chanel’s backing has more to do with them supporting an important independent player with the hopes of future financial reward than with any exchange of information or roadmap involvement – both Journe and MB&F continue to run independently. The investment in Kross is very clearly of a different nature, and while I doubt Chanel has any interest in a takeover, they are undoubtedly keen on the integrated manufacturing process, something I expect them to make the most of when the time comes.