A WauWau portrait in Luxury Things magazine hopefully convinces the luxury bees!
Andrea Hörtenhuber wrote the following text about WauWau (photos: Cornelia Gillmann):
Pepper - with measure & style
Thomas Kreuz makes pepper mills in his manufactory in Neubau.
It all started with a lemon squeezer. With a design piece by Philippe Starck, a gift from Thomas Kreuz' sister. "It's extremely beautiful, but it doesn't work. That fascinated me," says Kreuz. But it was still a long way from the press to the mill. Kreuz learned to be a goldsmith, then studied product design. "In a free subject, we had the task of redesigning a product. So I thought to myself, "A pepper mill like that wouldn't be bad."
No sooner said than done - with success. Kreuz' first line of 30 porcelain pepper mills - "very large and very phallic" - sold from the spot. "Even though they cost 4500 shillings each. It was clear to me then: there is a market." There really is: Kreuz sells up to 2000 mills a year in his store in Neubau under the name "WauWau." "WauWau" is not just pepper mills, however. Kreuz also has chili mills, vases or ballpoint pens on offer. "I've made almost everything. But I got stuck with the mills." And that's about it.
"The pepper mill is a fetish object," is clear to Kreuz. The black mills, polished to a high sheen and lined up on the shelves, are also reminiscent of a fetish. They are available for purchase starting at 95 euros. "My current best seller." And his favorite, Kreuz reveals. Where the fetish starts? "If someone has three mills, that's just a passion" Kreuz himself owns 15 mills. "But only second choice. You always have to improve them. And you can only do that if you use them every day."
Artist editions and sailors
It takes up to four hours to finish a mill. First the body is turned from wood, then dried.(Reversed; note TK) Kreuz uses mainly local woods, works with a workshop in the Mühlviertel region. "Pear, plum and apple are in vogue." The grinder for the pepper mills comes from Switzerland, the chili grinder was developed by Thomas Kreuz himself.
This quality has its price: the mills cost up to 368 euros. "These are then artist's editions, specially painted". The classic - phallic and made of wood - is available from 75 euros.
When it comes to unusual requests, Kreuz is used to a lot: from the 1.20 meter tall mill to the mini pepper mill as big as a matchbox, everything has been there. "I always have the little sailor with me myself. Once you're used to fresh pepper, you don't want to do without it." "I always warn my customers: Pepper is addictive - and chili even more so."
