Marco Tedeschi’s Impressive Central Floating Tourbillon in Black Aventurine

The Central Floating Tourbillon is not entirely new; the design has existed under the Kross Studio name since 2023, but the brand has since moved toward the more personal identity of Marco Tedeschi. This collection is a direct expression of the engineer-watchmaker’s mechanical philosophy; read him explain it in our interview here. The Central Floating Tourbillon is one of his signature constructions, an idea Tedeschi developed in 2006 while still a student. Interestingly, initially his objective was not to create a tourbillon, but to develop a manually wound movement with a substantial power reserve from a single barrel.

He started at the centre, placing a large barrel on the central axis and building the movement from it. The regulating organ naturally followed on the same axis, leading to the Central Tourbillon and eventually to the patented Central Floating Tourbillon, raised above the movement. That is how, in this watch, the case, display, and winding system all serve the design of the movement.

The new Central Floating Tourbillon Titanium Black Aventurine is presented in a 45mm Grade 5 titanium case measuring 20mm thick (12.5mm without the crystal). The case, satin-finished, is completely round and free of conventional lugs and is topped with a domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. On the caseback side, the D-ring crown moves winding and setting away from the case side to preserve symmetry, with a dedicated function-switch push button, flush with the case, positioned at 3 o’clock. Water resistance is 30m.

The dial in black aventurine, like the blue aventurine version, keeps its subtle sparkle and is built in several layers. The outer ring with the white minute track is fixed to the case. An intermediate dial is mounted on the fixed hour wheel, and an innermost dial is attached to the movement mainplate. The centre space houses the barrel, balance, and tourbillon, and an opening at 9 o’clock exposes part of the gear train. Rhodium-plated hands with white Super-LumiNova show the hours and minutes around the perimeter.

Like the earlier Central Floating Tourbillon editions (Blue Aventurine, Meteorite and Moss Agate), the watch is powered by the manually wound KS 7’005 calibre. The movement contains 220 components, operates at 21,600 vibrations/hour, and provides five days, or 120 hours, of power reserve from the oversized barrel that is the starting point of the construction. 

The tourbillon, sharing the same axis with the balance, is raised above the movement and appears separate from the mechanism below. The hours and minutes orbit the central mechanism without interfering with the view, driven by the A planetary gear system mounted on ceramic ball bearings. The watch is worn on a black calf-leather strap, closed with a Grade 5 titanium deployant buckle. The strap is interchangeable, with pushers on each side to release when needed.

The Central Floating Tourbillon Titanium Black Aventurine is limited to 10 numbered pieces. It is priced at CHF 92,000. For more details, please visit www.marco-tedeschi.com.