The Designer

Ruedi Külling - The Designer

Ruedi Külling's story is that of a successful idealist. Born in 1935, he first worked as a successful sales promoter and graphic designer.

During this time, he created unforgetable advertising for brands such as "Sinalco" and "bic". However, by 1994 he felt his creativity to be restricted by too much marketing, and sold his shares in an advertising agency in order to realize his dream and design watches. This was triggered by his idea of making the Swiss rail station clock available in watch format.

Fired by this success, he plucked up the courage to start designing watches himself. After one and a half years of preparation, the time was ripe: Külling presented his new brand Xemex Swiss Watch with its product philosophy, and launched his first line, "Offroad".

   In watch design Ruedi Külling's motto is: less is more. This concept also made him famous as a graphic designer, his posters are on display in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Now they have been joined by some of his watches. They can also be admired in the Chicago Museum of Architecture Design, the London Design Museum and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Külling reduces things to the bare essentials. Clear forms, functional but nevertheless stylish, are the foundation of his designs. Watches serve to show the time, without which they would be useless. Readability is therefore of prime importance; it is achieved through the clarity of the design. Watches make people, they express their identity and underline their individual personality.