The star of this story is the new OISA movement, designed and manufactured in Italy.
A historical movement, this year the OISA 1937 signals the relaunch of the production of Made in Italy watches.
OISA 1937 is the brainchild of Domenico Morezzi, Maître Horologer and, so far, remains the only Italian manufacturer of mechanical movements that has ever existed.
Morezzi founded O.I.S.A. – Orologeria Italiana Società Azionaria – in 1937 in Viale Regina Margherita in Milan, starting a handcrafted production of movements designed, machined and assembled “in house.”
OISA 1937 patented and marketed numerous brands of wristwatches, while at the same time continuing the production of various precision movements such as 13- line, 11-line and 1/5, 10-line and 1/5, 7 and 3/4, 6 and 1/4 calibres, which it supplied to other manufacturers.
In the post-war years, the company grew and moved first to Viale Bligny and then, in 1955, to its definitive headquarters at 10 Corso Como.
OISA has always been a family-run company with around 120 employees led by Domenico Morezzi with the support of his grandson Carlo Boggio Ferraris.
After his grandfather’s death, it was his nephew Carlo who took over the company and guided it to the success. However, with the arrival of quartz movements on the market, he was forced to cease production a few years later.
But Carlo, who still produces top-quality components for Swiss Made movements, did not give up.
Now leader of the new OISA 1937, he explains: “Don’t be afraid of not having courage was my grandfather’s dictum and, in memory of his extraordinary genius, my dream has always been to resume production of his movements.”
Adding: “At that time OISA was both a customer and supplier of Genesi, the historic Milanese watch factory now owned by LOCMAN”.
In order to carry out this project for the rebirth of Italian mechanical engineering, Carlo Boggio Ferraris has received the full support of a number of important partners who have decided to accept this new challenge.
“Together with Marco Mantovani, President of LOCMAN, Benedetto Perrotta of Officina Meccanica Futura and a high-level financial partner such as Andrea Morante, we have created a very concrete industrial project. The technical direction is entrusted to Fausto Berizzi, who has developed an important know-how in prestigious Swiss fashion houses,” continues Ferraris.
He concludes: “The idea is to offer the entire sector high quality, precision and reliable Made in Italy mechanical movements. Production in our workshops in Pavia has already begun, with excellent results. In 2022, 1,000 movements will be produced and, starting from 2023, we foresee a gradual development to reach significantly higher numbers.”
Today, the OISA 1937 Manufacture is dedicated to the manufacture of the calibre 29-50 Cinque Ponti, originally designed in the 1960s by Domenico Morezzi, which has been remodelled in terms of mechanics, aesthetics and materials.
The ultra-thin 29-50 movement is made of brass, titanium or nickel silver with 19 jewels. With a diameter of 29.50 mm and a thickness of 3.5 mm, it can be customised according to the customer’s needs, both in terms of materials – with the possibility of inserting some gold components – and in terms of in-house hand finishing.
