The fourth generation 

The True Story of Verga Watchmaker’s 1947

by Giansandro Cantori – Photo by Ferdinando Cioffi

The story I am about to tell is just my cup of tea, a family saga tied to a specific sector, that of watchmaking and high-precision mechanics. It is the story of the Verga family, an enterprise but also a precious realm of artisanship and perfect manufacturing combined with a great will power and commercial skills, the same elements which helped make our country great after the second World War.

Umberto Verga, third generation entrepreneur in this sector and current CEO of Verga watchmaker’s 1947, tells us the great venture of the family.

On their 75th anniversary, we, at Bespoke Portofino, decided to meet with Umberto and ask him to tell us the story of their company so as to bring it straight to customers and aficionados.

Umberto is a good-looking man, elegant, measured and simple, a real gentleman, whose love for watches has led him to be at the head of one of the largest and best italian watches companies, and I am proud to consider him my friend. 

Umberto recounts how his grandfather began the journey into the realm of watches and the handover which took place four years ago, as Riccardo and Federico, two of his children, joined the enterprise. He does so with an old-fashioned touch and using an exquisite language, without overstatements and with a hint of controlled emotion.

It all began with Grandpa Luigi, recalls Umberto, who in the 30s worked as a technician in a Rolex retail shop on Via Dogana, in Milan.  Over the years, Luigi takes the lead as store manager, but as the war approaches no one is safe.

During a bombing, the shop is destroyed and overnight Grandpa Luigi is left with everything to be rebuilt  from scratch. He finds a small shop, much different from the one owned today, on Via Mazzini. Yet, in the years to come, there is where international customers and influential local clientele will purchase the greatest watch brands.

In 1947 Rolex was not yet the mega brand that we all know, but starting from that year the name will be closely tied to the enterprise of the Verga family. A friendship starts off between the former Rolex sales and marketing director and Grandpa Luigi, a friendship which lasts to this day and maintains a thread between the Swiss brand and the Verga family, who after all these years is still their official dealership.

Other brands have created a strong connection to Verga’s commercial activity: for instance, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe. Umberto tells us that in the 50s Zenit was the most important sign on the store. He also recalls a sort of business mantra that his father, Valerio, used to tell him over and over: “These are the watches, these are the watches that need selling and that many you will have to sell.” That is what marketing was like and his father decided on the sales strategies for the numerous brands of watches managed and on sale in the Verga shop. 

The Verga family only managed one jewel brand, which today happens to be among the most important on the market: Pomellato, created and founded by the Rabolini family and Valerio Verga. Rabolini and Umberto’s father were in fact partners and cooperated to develop the brand which has now been taken, like many other prestigious names, into the Kering group.

In 1950 Umberto’s father, Valerio, a man led by great intuition and with a deep knowledge of the market, joined the business. I have always heard great things about him from Giampiero Negretti, an authority among the journalists covering the watchmaking branch, as he had a very special friendship with Valerio. As for me, I have had the fortune of meeting him and getting to know him. 

The Verga family always took great pride in the quality of the products it represented and sold. What is really special about this family business is that every choice has been made with the heart.

Umberto joins the business in 1982 and from this moment on, thanks also to the participation as manager of a cousin, the family-run business begins promoting a vertical development of the enterprise, which will then lead up to the current structure: from a modest business with 5 employees to a company with now thirty employees, inter-departmental management (sales, marketing and customer service) and the establishment of four stores in Milan.

The participation of the children will determine a leap in market placement and the compliance to the current commercial marketing regulations.  Umberto ascribes credit to Riccardo and Federico, who are nowadays the driving force of the company, updated to today’s market standards, together with the managing director, dr. Noris, financial leader of the enterprise.

Umberto recalls how in 1947 Verga watchmaker’s became the first company in the watches sector to obtain the ISO 9000 certification, an absolute novelty at that time which no other great brand had yet achieved.

Intuition and business skills will lead Umberto and his team of professionals to reach the results we can now see. Umberto loves watches, he knows them one by one and has a deep knowledge of the history of each brand, which has allowed him and his father Valerio to manage the sales of great vintage wrist-watches.

“Since the 80s – Umberto informs us – we have sold products created twenty, twenty five years ago, made in the 60s, which speak of the most important manufacturing.  We have always had this approach without caging ourselves in commercial boundaries.”

Hence, in 2018, exactly for this reason, Verga Vintage was created to deal with the sales of these watches which Umberto defines as “Instant Classics”. They are not simply older models, they are particular pieces produced in a limited edition and characterized by absolute value and prestige.

The creation of a Vintage section allowed Verga to manage products tied to personal preferences and passions but with a real business approach which is now bearing fruit: twenty, twenty five- year-old vintage watches and Instant Classics, limited series, unique and iconic.

At this point Umbert would like to introduce to our readers a selection of watches which, according to his personal taste, represent the perfect mix of qualities which are tirelessly sought after in the world of vintage and by the aficionados.

Let us open the treasure chest, a well-thought out selection of watches which stand for his personal interpretation of the watchmaking world.

We begin with the most basic watch, an Explorer 1 by Rolex. This is the first series with the glass in plastic and it is the perfect essence of a clean, plain and essential watch: great visibility, sturdy case, pleasant and simple in its aesthetics.

Next to the Explorer, we find what is probably now the most iconic watch,  the Rolex Paul Newman, which stands out for its peculiar dial and holds the Verga guarantee: it is a true Paul Newman in every way, no doubt about it.

We will now enter a different realm, that of the classics, represented by Patek Philippe and his “Ore del mondo” (“World Time”), which is in  truth an extremely simple watch. It is the second edition, the first dating back to the 50s. This is a 90s watch. Its peculiarity lies in the outer dial on which are included different cities in the world. It embodies the world of Patek Philippe, as it also speaks out the dream of an elitist cosmopolitanism, the archetype of traveling.

Another piece which is only known by few aficionados is the Urban Jurgensen, a Danish brand moved to Switzerland by the new owners. The factory, reacquired in the 60s and currently disappeared from the market due to the lack of heirs, left a tangible mark in the world of watchmaking: a small quantity of samples entirely hand-made holding a high quality design and of great effect.

Moving on, it is impossible not to be enchanted by Cartier’s creativity. Surely, we all acknowledge him as a great jeweler, but it needs reminding that between the ‘20s and the 40s the house produced the most beautiful watches in the world, with renowned high quality mechanical clockwork and the brand’s exclusive designs. This model represents “pure pleasure” for Umberto, who is an enthusiastic yachtman, as it holds a reproduction of a 50s sailboat wheel. It was a special request made to Cartier directly by the ship owner.

Within Umberto’s collection, representing the quintessence of watchmaking, there clearly had to be samples from the early 80s Breguet.

We will now move onto a new category of watchmaking which in the 90s affirmed its place on the market, we are talking about German watches. Let’s not forget that in Germany, in the 1930s, Lange & Sohne stood at the top of mechanical craftsmanship, especially with regard to great quality pocket watches. The factory was brought back on track after the fall of the Berlin Wall, thanks to the skillful hands of the old Lange family, which later sold to Richmond. They started recreating the models made-in-germany, which stood out for their precision and extraordinary quality. 

Umberto likes to recall a brand which Italians have been wrongfully considering a sub-brand, as it belongs to the Rolex world. Tudor was essentially a more casual brand, an easy access to the world of Rolex, but in the 70s it has actually placed some magnificent watches on the market.

This is a 70s chronograph with a Le Mans dial:  inside on the caseback the original engraving says “case by Rolex Ginevra”. It has a manual winding mechanism by Rolex, so we are describing a watch which truly boasts an exceptional quality. Umberto comments that “in comparison with Rolex, Tudor was more iconic, hence it could be more daring in the dials and it could afford to step out of the Rolex classical format and be more creative.”

We are reaching the end with an Audemars Piguet. Only 10 pieces have been created, carrying a platinum case. “In the 80s they found an old clockwork in their storage – Umberto explains – and they assembled it in an unusual case, with a silver dial and pink Arabic numbers: an amazing, wonderful aesthetic combination.”

The offer moves onto one of the most iconic watches, 57 11 Nautilus by Patek, already  considered an “Instant Classic”.

This is the first meeting with the aficionados of great watchmaker’s, ladies and gentlemen who love making acquaintance with all that is beautiful. Along with the knowledgeable Umberto Verga, we had the chance to express and experience his passion for watches. In the following issues we will go further into details, we will recount more anecdotes on watches that are even more technical and rare but not necessarily more valuable. “What matters is looking at them with your heart – says Umberto – for that is the true guarantee of quality.”

Greetings to all the lovers and aficionados of watches.

See you soon.