After creating one of the most elaborate collectibles imaginable for Batman fans with its $US29,900 ($39,229) Batmobile mechanical desk clock, Kross Studio is now tempting Star Wars fans with a new wearable timepiece celebrating the Empire and its planet-killing superweapon: the Death Star. But the only thing this watch will wipe out is your life savings.
Inside the watch’s 45-millimetre titanium case (which is finished with a black diamond-like carbon coating created by literally blasting its metal surface with tiny carbon particles to make it scratch-resistant) you’ll find a partial skeletal recreation of the Death Star, complete with a green accent for its superlaser cannon. Inside the miniature Death Star is a mechanism known as a tourbillon which keeps the watch’s mechanical escapement and balance wheel in constant motion to help negate the effects of gravity and improve the accuracy of its timekeeping. As a result, the Death Star and the tourbillon inside both make a full rotation every minute.
If you look closely you’ll also notice the watch’s hour hand is actually a tiny Imperial-Class Star Destroyer, while the minute hand is a Super-Class Star Destroyer, and both make their own respective orbits around the Death Star throughout the course of a day. One missing feature that’s usually a mainstay on mechanical watches is a crown dial on the side used to wind the mechanics inside and keep the timepiece running. It’s been moved to the back of the watch’s case in the form of a pop-up D-ring that sits flush when not in use to help preserve the clean aesthetics of the piece. After a winding, the watch will run for about five days before it’s time to power it up again.
Possibly even more impressive than the Death Star watch itself is the collectible case it comes in. Assembled from over 700 parts made from wood and aluminium, it’s a half-scale, four-foot-long replica of the armoured shipping containers used to transport kyber crystals as seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The outside of the case features an electronic control panel and Aurebesh markings, while inside there are nine storage units holding the watch, three sets of swappable straps, a replica movie prop kyber crystal, and extra compartments for holding other Star Wars collectibles.
If you haven’t already guessed how this story ends, it’s unfortunately not good news for the under-funded Rebels. Kross Studio is only producing 10 of these collector sets and each one comes with a $US150,000 ($196,800) price tag. Nowhere near as expensive as a real Death Star, and probably even cheaper than an astromech droid, but even die-hard Star Wars fans will have a hard time convincing themselves their collection isn’t complete without one of these.