🎙️ Gismondi 1754 - Fireside Chat TRANSCRIPT, NOTES and INSIGHTS w/ Massimo Gismondi
Exclusive insights into the legacy and future of the next big luxury jeweler
Transcript, Commentary, and Bonus Content
We invite you to enjoy the content by watching and reading simultaneously:
This groundbreaking post features numerous exclusive on-location videos, previously unpublished images, and insightful commentary from both the author and Massimo Gismondi. It adds rich context and depth to the interview released on August 20th, 2024.
Table of contents
Transcript, Commentary, and Bonus Content
Introduction
Moshi moshi fellow hermits!
Welcome back to the podcast version of The Hermit, a place dedicated to exploring the universe of investable listed microcaps.
Today's conversation spotlights Massimo Gismondi, an elite jeweler and the driving force behind Gismondi 1754. Guided by the motto "Handmade in Italy, designed for the world," Massimo upholds a seven-generation family tradition by reviving ancient goldsmith techniques from Valenza Po to create exquisite jewelry. Using nearly invisible golden threads to set precious stones, the methods used by Massimo honor and preserve Italian heritage.
Gismondi has obtained craftsmanship awards in ceremonies and prestigious shows such as Vicenzaoro in Europe and Couture in Vegas. The brand is recognized and respected by high-end users and sector specialists
On a business model level, the company operates a newly acquired production center in Valenza, the Italian-made jewelry production capital of the world, and has 30 points of sale, including 6 boutique stores, five in Italy (Portofino, Genoa, Milan, Rome, San Teodoro) and one in St. Moritz in Switzerland.
Since its inception in 2011 and IPO in 2019, Gismondi 1754 has been expanding its global presence. The company is currently refocusing on the USA, enhancing distribution through a new centralized hub, and eyeing further growth in the Middle East and Asia.
As always, none of this is financial advice. This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Please, do your own research and consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
I hope you enjoy today’s conversation.
Origin Story and Spirit of the Company (01:55)
Q: Thank you very much, Massimo, for doing this. I really appreciate your time and I really appreciate the fact that you're willing to undergo this little interview to showcase what Gismondi is and sort of showcase the progress, the incredible progress, that you've done so far in just a few years.
So let's start with this little fireside chat.
A: That's right. Thank you so much, Alejandro, for inviting me to this interview.
Q: Well, the first thing I wanted to ask you about is the origin story, right? The origin story of Gismondi, the origin story of your family. Can you give us a little bit of a hint on that front?
A: Yeah, of course. I represent actually the seventh generation of my company, founded in 1754. So this year we are celebrating the 270th anniversary. And we’re born in Genoa, my origin town. And generation after generation we arrive to the 21st century and increasing the vision of the brand and developing the brand outside of our city and outside of the country.
This kind of journey, I decided to start in 2011 when I decided to split the company from my uncle because my father had passed away. And I decided to follow my own path.
The part that will introduce, has been introduced in Gismondi in the international jewelry channel. And today we are based not anymore in Genoa, our origin city in Liguria, but in more than 10 countries around the world.
Q: Can you give us a little bit of a sense of the spirit of the company? One of the things I really like about the company is the motto. Can you explain that to us?
A: Yeah. Our motto is very simple. We have several mottos, but the basic one is “We give a shape to our emotion”. It means that we transform, through what I'm able to do, the jewelry. Jewelry is a form of art, 100% form of art. So I try my best to transform my emotion, so something that is intangible, in something concrete, tangible, jewelry. And through what I'm able to do, I try to give a shape to what I wanted to transmit and I want to say.
This is our core and especially our focus when we are making jewelry. And this is what makes Gismondi unique in the international, worldwide channel, jewelry channel.
Another motto, it's Italian made, made by Italian hand for the world.
Massimo is referring to "Handmade in Italy, designed for the world". The most ancient of their mottos
What does it mean? It means when we are saying, by Italian hand it means it's not a discriminatory, 100%.
It means, of course, it means when I'm talking about the Italian hand, it means all the people that are working in Italy with a regular permissive, with a regular contract, because we take care about all our employees. And we want to respect the individual and the ethic of everybody.
That's the reason why when we are saying made in Italy by Italian hands. In the Italian hand (include) are inside all the people also from foreign country that working in Italy regularly with a regular contract when the respect of the dignity of everybody is 100% done from my company.
Initial Supporter: Stefano Rocca (06:06)
Q: One of the things that interests me the most is, once again, the spirit of it. And I think that is illustrated in the board members, the board compensation. On that front, I would really love to learn a little bit about Stefano Rocca.
Stefano was one of the early supporters. And I think he has a beautiful story that illustrates the origins of Gismondi.
A: Definitely, yes. When we started this journey, the internalization of this journey, when I understood exactly that I needed help from the right people, the right person, and sharing with me the same value, I decided to look around.
And in 2016, I started the collaboration with two very strategically important people.
The three are (still) there, we start everything was me, of course, my family, my wife, that is always very close to me, and Mr. Stefano Rocca, he came from Bulgari, and Vhernier before then came to my company, joined to my company, and Alberto Gaggero, our CFO. He's taking care (of) all the numbers.
Q: He's still around.
A: This traded, decided to give... to start this kind of journey taking care about a number from one side with thanks to Alberto, and the strategy. In the long term strategy thanks to Stefano. I chose Stefano and he also chose my company because we share the same values.
I remember very well the first day working day with him.
He told me Massimo “if you wanted to write the history of this company for the next seven generations”, so we have a long-term uprocess in in front of us “we need to start with the value of the company we need to write down the value where we will going to build up the company for the present but also for the future”
And we spent three days writing all the values and the whole and all the principle that needed to develop not the company only but also all the business.
And this is what we are absolutely doing today and the the role of Stefano is strategically very important because it is a the person in charge to control and checking that we are always into this binary. We are always following this binary of the Gismondi ethic.
When we wrote down the Gismondi ethic, the Gismondi value, we wrote with the blood, the real value of the company. And today Stefano is the person in charge to monitoring everybody that we our behavior, and whatever we do, how we approach the business is always into this binary.
Q: Can you give us a little bit of the background of Stefano? I think his story especially the part where he built up Bulgari is very interesting
A: Yeah, Stefano worked in Bulgari since the beginning of the end of 1980. So he started joining the company when the company had only five stores.
So it was a very family company already worldwide because they had a store in New York. So it was already an international company. But of course, this is not the Bulgari of today. And it was not the Bulgari of 2007 when they Bulgari family sold to LVMH.
So originally, Stefano helped (the) Bulgari family to grow and consolidate the value of the company, the value of the family into the company. And he was one of the seven manager that made Bulgari great because, as I told you, he started just has as a simple employee in the end of 1980 and he became the general manager of Bulgari for EMEA market.
So he was in charge of a very important market in that period and also for now for (the) Bulgari company. And he, after that, after Bulgari, when the family decided to sell in 2007, he stayed in Bulgari for more than two years longer, but he decided that totally change the business. No more, no more family was involved, into the company. And so it was not anymore the company where he grew up and that's the reason why he decided to leave and go to try experience in other company he worked. For example Stefano was a head of Richard Ginori, one of other oldest company in Italy based in 1735. And after Richard Ginori he worked for Vhernier another very well known company, and recently, on the news, because Vhernier has been sold to Richemont group. Just 1 or 2 months ago.
He worked as a general manager for and also more board member for Vhernier as I told you. Meanwhile, he worked as a counselor for Chopard. And so he had great experiences in over 30 years in this kind of luxury segment and focusing in the jewelry district.
And so Stefano definitely, when we met each other, he was working for Vhernier. And when he understood that a company with a long heritage like mine, was looking for a manager helping me to build up the brand. He was totally fascinated because Stefano basically has a masters in economics but basically he studied history of arts.
So everything that behind there is a history he's always been fascinated and so when he started to understand about my company what i want to do my vision he decided to join the company. And, helping me, develop the long term strategy. Because, as I told you before, we are not working for today or for tomorrow to sell the company. I'm not interested. This is my dream. This is my family heritage. We are working to build up one of the most important company in the jewelry scenario.
And, because this is my heritage, I bought, into my store when he still was really younger and, I always brief. This kind of atmosphere and this kind of sense of the responsibility to keep working and to ameliorate the company for the next generation.
And thanks to Stefano that even if now Stefano is 65, but is totally involved within the company. Still now driving back and forth from Rome, because he's originally from Rome, every week because he wants to follow deeper the company.
So not just working by zoom, by conference call, he wants to lead the company from the internal in our head office in Genoa but also in our factory in Valenza as well.
So this is definitely my right hand, that always puts me in the condition (state of mind) to reflect about the right decision? What about, is the right thing to do? Not for today, but for the next 10-20 years?
Products (14:30)
Q: I think you mentioned a few, a couple of very interesting points, but I think the initial supporters, your mentors and the people backing you are extremely important, especially when you don't have a massive company. It's not the same thing to run, let's say, Coca-Cola than it is to run a Gismondi, especially in the 2011 to 2016 phase.
With that being said, let's dive into the actual products of Gismondi. I'm curious about the seven collections and essentially the products that you manufacture.
Can you talk a little bit about the items, the materials you use?
A: Of course, of course. Basically, Gismondi is high-end jewelry. High-end jewelry means high-end quality of making jewelry and a high quality of stones that we are used to use.
Everything starts, as I told you before, from an emotion and I try to give a shape of this emotion through the jewelry to making jewelry. And when you are trying to give a shape to emotion you don't have any kind you must not respect any kind of compromise. You need to go straight giving the shape in what you have into your heart and what you have into your mind.
So that's the reason why when we start making the first piece of the jewelry we're always starting with a one-of-a-kind piece. Because with a one of a kind, with no budget, it's much more easier to go straight to the goal. Because you don't have any compromise in term of pricing.
And after that, if I understand the potential of developing this kind of a masterpiece into a collection, in term of pricing, in term of positioning into the market, we develop the collection from this piece. But sometimes happen that no collection on this piece because the compromise that I would take it would be too much. That's the reason why sometimes we only have a one-of-a-kind pieces and after them there’s no collection. But all our collection today, of course if you want to develop a brand if you want to become a brand you must have a collection, always start from a masterpiece.
Today in our portfolio, we have seven collection. Three of them, four of them are ethereal and three of them are material.
Ethereal being when gold is very thin attempting to be invisible and the stones have an effect of floating in the air. Material or materic is when gold is the main feature so there is more boldness and focus on its shape.
Why this kind of differences?
Gismondi basically is ethereal, we wanted to give a shape to the design using the stones only. So the gold is just a material that needed to support the stones but the disposition of the stones makes the design. So the stones looks like floating in the air.
But sometimes it happens that to reflect and to give a shape to my motion, I need to use more material elements. And so that's the reason why we have a three collection that are material. Like Vela, one of the last one, is the last one in time of material collection.
And like we have Clip and like we have Aura collection as well. And always keeping the same DNA of Gismondi etheric collection as well. Because Gismondi is very iconic and very recognizable because of the DNA in terms of design and the construction of the jewels is always the same.
There is a very important feel rouge that connect all the collection and all our masterpieces. And so, as I told you this morning, it's one of a kind pieces, it's a collection pieces, but it's also limited edition pieces that we are used to call APC (additional piece of collection).
So sometimes we have into the collection some pieces that you can buy only in our flagship store, in our franchising, and in our shopping (retail) shop store. And you cannot find in other boutiques like retailer because they're limited. And so, just for the sense of the term limited means, limited in just a very selected places where to find it.
Q: You mentioned Vela, but we have Essenza, we have Raggio di Solle, we have Marea.
A: Of course, of course. I just said what we are launching in the next Vicenza show that we are approaching in September. It's an extension of one of our recent collections, Vela.
Essenza, it's our first collection we made and probably one of the most iconic collection where we won also the first award in 2019 in Couture Show. We have, and Essenza, it's worldwide is really well recognizable as a Gismondi piece. It's super iconic and probably the most iconic piece, even because it was the first one we designed. And we have…
Here is a release about award won by Gismondi in Couture Vegas 2024:
Q: Let me interrupt you, Massimo, because for me, (in Italian) the most of them all is Vita. Vita is an amazing collection that you pulled out. I don't know out of where, but it's just fascinating. And I would love not that you talk about the actual piece, but that you talk about the inspiration and how that translates to the design of the piece.
A: Of course, of course just to… Vita it's a set a set based on three pieces a necklace earrings and a bracelet. And I don't want to develop any collection of it because the compromise would be too much. And I want to maintain and keep, the message very clean and very transparent because, it's very important for me what I want to say with Vita collection.
The inspiration comes from a difficult year. It was three years ago (2021). When we decide, after pushing from my son, we decided (my wife and I) to let my son go study abroad for us was very difficult period because we have only one son and always been traveling with us all around the world since he was very little. And so letting go to another country far away from us was really complicated.
And I live, I had experienced difficult month, to accept this kind of decision that my wife and I (had chosen) given. Why? Because since the beginning I understood how was important for him to go abroad to study, because it came the right time to find himself to try to experience alone without mommy and daddy that taking care about everything.
And so we understood how it was important for him. And for us, it was a very difficult decision for the reason why I explained it before. But in this period, I understood and it reminds me a few words of my mom that were used to say “the most important gift you can give to your son is the freedom”.
The freedom to do everything he wants in the life and he, everything he decided to do, it would be the right choice, but he must do in the, as best as possible.
Second, the freedom to go, to try to experience, because it is an independent and an individual person that he needs to find himself. And so we understood how was important, , to let him go.
And through Vita, I wanted to give a shape to this, my emotion, my wife and my emotion, interpreting exactly, all this information, all these points.
Vita, the first pieces, it's a necklace, and they talk about the story. There is one stone, the most important stone for a prince. It’s our son. This stone is a big tanzanite. Tailor-made cut. Why tailor-made cut? Because every son is a tailor-made piece for his family. Sorry the term, but he is a tailor-made person, made from two people that love each other. So we cut this stone.
And after, I wanted to reproduce all the our emotion and all what we did for our son since we decided to let him go. So the design of the necklace is a particular design where two line, and after transforming three lines of diamond, drop the stones with very innovative and technical kind of setting. I think embracing the stone represents how the two lines - the two lines of diamonds are the parents - want to protect their son, when they are little.
They want to sometimes a little bit also hide our son to everybody because we are scared when they are little, we are scared about everything can happen to our son. Hiding and protecting meanwhile. But this kind of innovative technique we use without no basket, no prongs, won't symbolize exactly that our son is not our, I mean in terms of material way, for all the life.
He's an independent person that when the right time arriving, the parents need to be ready to unwrap this structure, this necklace, this wire of diamond to let him fly and go alone. So this is, what I wanted to represent. That's the reason why we didn't use any prongs, any basket, because prongs and basket means fix something forever that you cannot lose.
Of course, we will not lose anymore our son because he's very close to the family, but we need to give him the freedom to unwrap the structure and let him fly alone to find himself.
Q: To be an independent person. I love the artistic spirit of the inspiration of this all. I find it absolutely fascinating. That being said, I think we talked a lot about shaping our emotions.
Pricing (26:36)
Q: So let's move on a little bit to the business itself. Let's start with these collections, talking a little bit about the pricing point. Who are essentially you selling this to? And what is the price point for the main items and let's say the lowest price item, for instance?