Original 1972 Alexis Barthelay Hand-Wound Movement Sterling Silver Watch

A FAMILY STORY, THE STORY OF A JEWELLER In 1927 Giovanni Battista Berca started creating so beautiful and so refined jewelry that his fame surpassed that of any other master goldsmith. In a short space of time he became the personal jeweler of influential families who turned to him for their small masterpieces in the tradition of classical high jewelry. Giuseppe Berca, his son, refused to rest on his father’s laurels and decided that the tradition should be updated. He transformed his workshop into a small company and put emphasis on design development creating his personal style. Following his father’s philosophy is now Marco Giovanni Berca running the company: aesthetic searches coupled with unusual choices in the material selection are the hinges that hold up his ongoing research. “Attention should be placed on the item from which our activity stems: the research and the selection of those gems that may naturally appear mysterious and strange and that, in the hands of the jeweler, transform themselves so to appear almost magical, thanks to their capacity of light, color and joy: that’s why behind each collection lies a stone: we are fascinated by a unique material, its light, its color, the luminous spark that can materialize in front of our gaze; all items that, in themselves, constitute a beginning, the beginning of a new research of forms and volumes fit to give expression to our idea of “bello” –he says.