FOUNDER'S STORY

WHO I AM, BEFORE ANY OF THIS

I grew up in Hemel Hempstead, part of a big, loud, ordinary family. Mum and dad, still together to this day, an older sister and a younger brother, and a childhood that I'd genuinely call lucky — a family holiday every year, a street full of kids, nothing that ever felt like hardship. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back, I had about as good an upbringing as anyone could ask for.

School was fine. Nothing remarkable, a bit of trouble here and there like most teenage boys, A-levels, then a few years of not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I flirted with the idea of the Navy, then the Marines, before deciding against it. Instead, I went to night school to learn web design as my way into Tech. From there I moved into network engineering, specialising in Cisco technologies for voice and data networks. A successful technical career eventually led me into technology management, and finally into technology governance.

Sports have always been a passion of mine, from playing football to a good standard to watching almost every sport on TV — I'm the greatest armchair pundit there is! Fitness and the outdoors have always been a key part of my physical and mental wellbeing too.

Watches had a hold on me even then, long before I ever thought about making my own. I collected Swatches as a kid and was endlessly fascinated by pocket watches — the mechanics, the history, the sense of occasion they carried. That eye for classic style never left me. To this day I'm drawn to a proper British gentleman's look, and it's a thread that runs straight through into how CROSS is designed.

By 2015 I was 38, married to Nikki, and raising two young children in what I'd have called a perfectly ordinary British family.

THE BEFORE

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.

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 Nikki. 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.

AND WATCHES, SPECIFICALLY?

That childhood fascination with Swatches and pocket watches never really went away, it just went quiet for a while. Looking back, it makes sense that when I needed to build something that could carry all of this, a watch was always going to be the answer. It wasn't a random choice of object. It was always going to be a watch.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

The factory is in the process of manufacturing our prototype. It lands in early December with a desire to launch fully in Late February 2027.

Fifty people said yes before a prototype existed, and that means more to me than I know how to express. If you're just discovering CROSS for the first time, you can follow along and be part of what comes next by signing up to our monthly newsletter for exclusive news, offers and information as we head toward our launch.

Thank you for being here.

Dan