Newsletter Special - A bit about me (7th July 2026)

A bit about me

All of you backed me before you'd ever seen a prototype. Before there was a watch to hold, a factory confirmed, or a case design finalised. You trusted me, or at least trusted that I meant it. I owe you more than factory updates and bezel discussions. You deserve to know who is actually behind this. I wondered when the right time would be to share more details but I want you all to get to know me and my motivation, drive, passion.

So here it is. The full story.

THE BEFORE

In 2015 I was 38 years old, married to Nikki, and raising two young children in what I would call a perfectly ordinary British family. I was climbing the ladder in IT management, long hours, early starts, late finishes. Nikki held everything together at home, running a side hustle alongside it. We were happy, busy, and completely oblivious to the fact that we were living on borrowed time.

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SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2015

I was away with work when a mentally ill man broke into our home. He killed Nikki in front of our two young children while I listened helplessly on the phone.

I won't ask you to imagine it.

I couldn't, before it happened to me.

Nikki's life was gone, our lives destroyed.

In the weeks that followed, I would have given anything to build a time machine. One that could take me back to that afternoon, or carry me forward past the worst of the pain.

Neither was available. So I've settled for doing something smaller, something that simply tells the time. As long as it reminds me how precious every second of it is.

Although it took me eight years to get past the excuses and self doubt, that thought never left me. 

The passion sat quietly in the background, waiting.

It's been waiting a long time. It's done waiting!

REBUILDING

A couple of years after losing Nikki, I met Alex. I believe, genuinely believe, that she was sent to me by Nik. To love us. To help us heal. She stepped into my life and my children's lives and she brought light back in. We've since had two more children together, and I count every one of my four as a blessing.

We carry Nikki with us every day. She is in the house, in the conversations, in the values I try to pass on. She always will be.

SAS WHO DARES WINS

In January 2018 I appeared on UK Channel 4's SAS Who Dares Wins. A reality TV show that puts civilians through "Special Forces selection training"....If you want to see what grief does to a man who refuses to stop moving, search for Dan Cross SAS on YouTube.

What came out of that experience was the spark for a national bereavement charity for men. It now supports around 200 men a year. I no longer run it day to day, but I'll always be proud of taking an idea on a piece of paper and turning it into something that actually helps people. I feel like I'm doing that again.

I also serve as a trustee of Nikki's Wishes, a children's bereavement charity supporting kids who have lost a parent or sibling. It carries her name. It's the least I can do.

WHY CROSS WATCH CO.

I'm not a watchmaker. I'm a man who lost everything, rebuilt from scratch, and came to understand, better than most people ever have cause to, what time actually means.

Every second matters. Every minute with the people you love is a gift you don't always know you have until it's gone. I wanted to make something that sits on the wrist and whispers that, quietly and purposefully, every single day.

And if I'm being completely honest, I still need the reminder myself. I'm human. I still work long hours. I still lose track. The watch is as much for me as it is for anyone else who wears it.

I'm over the moon with the support from every one of you. Fifty people said yes before a prototype existed. That means more to me than I know how to express.

The factory is in negotiation. The technical design is close. When it lands on your wrist, I want you to know the full weight of what you're wearing.

Thank you for being Founding Fifty.

Dan