He opened the Cassetti Laboratory in Florence
The historic high-end watchmaking shop in Ponte Vecchio offers its customers an official watchmaking service center
Located in one of the most scenic spots in Florence – in front of the Vasari corridor and the Arno – the Cassetti laboratory was created to provide greater assistance to customers and to the products purchased in the Cassetti stores. Customer care is one of the main values of the company made concrete with this new space.
The history of the company
Cassetti was born in 1926 from the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Renzo Cassetti, heir to the tradition of the Florentine master goldsmiths and silversmiths, in a small workshop on the Costa dei Magnoli in Florence. Initially, its production specialized in hand-worked and chiseled silverware, creating fashion objects for the shops of Ponte Vecchio. The success achieved in the 1950s allowed him to increase production and expand, starting a transformation process that led the small factory to become, in the 1980s, one of the first Italian industries in its field, to open the first shop on Ponte Vecchio dedicated to the public and in a few years another three stores specialized in elite jewelery. The company has always tried to honor the uniqueness and beauty of the location – which Ferdinand I assigned to the goldsmiths in 1595 – with products of high artistic and manufacturing value. In fact, in its windows in Ponte Vecchio it exhibits and sells the most prestigious brands in the world of fine Swiss watchmaking: Rolex, Tudor, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, Iwc, Jaeger le Coutre, Chopard. The cardinal values of Cassetti – professionalism, courtesy and attention to the customer and his desires – are carried forward today by the third generation who keep Renzo’s students steady but which also stands in the perspective of growth and evolution.
The lab
The strong points of the Cassetti laboratory are the direct and trained staff – who participates in refresher courses – to support the customer at the time of purchase and in the subsequent phases. The staff also recommends the most suitable method for storing the watch and its correct maintenance. Then there are state-of-the-art tools and the latest equipment needed to carry out the revisions according to the quality standards dictated by the brand. The automated machines are used for washing the movements, the latest generation chrono comparators detect the clock beats and compare them with the internal reference time signal in a graph, the average daily deviation of the clock.
The goal is to help those who buy a watch to preserve its original splendor and value over time. The master watchmakers, in fact, teach that the most serious damage found on watches is caused by interventions by unauthorized “operators” and therefore not equipped with official spare parts, suitable lubrication techniques and original gaskets, which the parent companies provide. made only to authorized service centers. “We are committed to assisting the customer by informing him of the characteristics and particularities of the watch, in order to guarantee its use for its perfect functioning” Cassetti affirms “inviting him to take constant care of the importance of periodic reviews at our Laboratory“. But this is not the only raison d’etre of the new space which also wants to be a meeting place, dissemination and training for all those who love the technical and artistic specificities that are hidden in every single watch. Thus a multifunctional environment is envisaged, where conferences and seminars on technical watchmaking and international managers of partner brands can also be organized: the perfect space also to present a preview of the seminar proposals.
The Air Factory
In collaboration with the University of Florence – under the direction of Prof. Stefano Mancuso, scientist, full professor at the faculty of Florence and director of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology (LINV) with offices all over the world – Cassetti has gave life to an innovative technical solution: “The Air Factory”. Years of study followed the creation of a botanical filtration system that uses plants to purify the air from pollutants. The well-being objective of the project is to highlight the importance of the health, physique and safety of workers. In fact, the quality of the air in the workplace affects the health of the person. Cassetti has managed to bring a small portion of the Amazon rainforest to Florence to keep purified air inside the precious clock that allows it to function better and keep it in good condition. Botanical filtration, as happens in a forest or precisely in the Amazon forest, uses the plants and the substrate on which they are grown to purify the air by biodegrading pollutants. Thanks to this innovative system, the air to be purified is passed through a cavity under the floor, flows through the filter modules, where the plants are placed, and then returned, purified, to the environment.
Furthermore, the luxuriant plants present in the laboratory, the light furniture and in line with a green philosophy create an almost surreal environment, an oasis of peace away from chaos and pollution, in which the technicians – in a healthy and free of fine dust – takes care of the watches. Respect for the environment – together with Cassetti’s savoir-faire and love for watchmaking – are part of the company philosophy: “Value over Value”. The company – protagonist of Haute Horlogerie – proves to be an avant-garde and innovative place, which perfectly adapts to the location that hosts its boutiques and that makes Florence fair.
www.cassetti.it [email protected]
Boutique Drawers Ponte Vecchio 54 / r – Florence tel 055 287361 [email protected]
Boutique Drawers (second wrist watches) Ponte Vecchio 56 / r – Florence tel 055 0981044 [email protected]
Vacheron Constantin Boutique – Ponte Vecchio 52r – Florence tel 055 2396028 [email protected]
Rolex boutique – Ponte Vecchio 29r – Florence tel 055 2714044 [email protected]