TOPPER: Where does the name Anonimo come from, and why did you choose it?
SCOTT: Anonimo means anonymous in Italian and it fits our theme perfectly. Our CEO Mr. Federico Massacesi feels very strongly that our watches are not about the company, they are about you, the customer. This spirit comes through in our decision not to put our name on the dial. It is a statement that recognizes that you are not wearing our name, you are wearing your name. The only mark we put on our dial is our very understated logo, and the series name of the watch (Millemetri, Polluce, Day-Date, etc.) The impetus behind how this happened was that when Mr. Massacesi was an executive of Ferragamo, his Boss who was CEO and the son of the famous Salvatore Ferragamo was wearing a watch that had been custom made for him as a gift by his brother-in-law. This watch was a prototype of what would become the Anonimo brand. Mr.Massacesi looked at his watch in a meeting and said, "Oh that's a beautiful watch, who makes it?" and Mr. Ferragamo replied, "It's not a brand, it's my watch. Nobody makes this watch. It's been made for me." And the guy pressed him on and the conversation got a little heated, but at the end of the conversation, Mr.Ferragamo said, "LISTEN, IT'S NOT A BRAND! IT'S MY WATCH! IT'S MADE FOR ME! IT'S ABOUT ME!" Mr. Massacesi never forgot and when it was time to formally start the brand, he said "Anonimo, that's who we are."
TOPPER: When and under what circumstances was Anonimo created?
SCOTT: In 1998, the original watch line that used our facilities was purchased by one of the top luxury watch companies in the world. To everyone's surprise they moved the operations of the brand from Florence to Switzerland. This opened up an opportunity for Mr. Massacesi, who had long dreamed of being an entrepreneur. He wanted to take the art of Italian watch making back to its roots and start it again. He re-contracted with the case manufacturing, bought the finishing operation where all Anonimo watches are finished to this day, and he re-hired everyone that had been involved in the former operation. Anonimo was born!
TOPPER: Can you describe the different processes that go into the creation of an Anonimo watch?
SCOTT: Our case manufacturing facility is a 20,000 square foot industrial building which is very large by Italian standards. It contains state of the art metal working machines. At the helm is a father-son team - the father coming out of a company called Officina Galileo. This company is world renowned at metal working, special metals, and special metal processes. He presently owns the company that finishes our watches. He runs it with his son and four other workers. They have one of only two machines in all of Italy which are capable of making an Anonimo case. While most cases are stamped, ours are scooped out, which makes them especially unique. It's a giant lathe. The only other Machine in all of Italy that could make our cases is owned by Ferrari. He has been making watches since the early 1970s.
After the cases are created, the next step is to take them to the finishing operation. The facility that we use has been in business since the late sixties, and was purchased by us in 1998. Since then, it has been used strictly for Anonimo. They receive the watches at about 65% completion, and that's where they are finished. The edges are tuned down, the satin finishes are applied, the push pins, and/or crowns are installed, and the crystals, bezels and backs are finished. Finally, they are numbered, logo-ed, and then the watch is completed.
The third step of the operation is assembly takes place in a laboratory cleaning room suitable for watch assembly. This is the stage where all of the dials and movements are tested and calibrated.
The fourth operation is totally unrelated to watch making, the facility where our Kodiak straps are made. This part of our operation is more Tuscan, out in the country. The straps are made by a team of three people that do nothing but make Kodiak straps. It's a family that over the years, from the great, great grandfather on down that have made water-resistant leather goods. Our leather straps are unique in that they are "water wearable". The trademark is held by Anonimo, but the patent is jointly owned by Anonimo and this family.
TOPPER: How many watches does Anonimo make each year?
SCOTT: We aspire to make 4,000 but have yet to achieve this goal. In 2005 we made 3,850, and in 2006 that number dropped to 3,650. The reason for the decline is that we have been making more complicated labor-intensive pieces that have taken us more time to create. Our new watches, like the Militaire Flyback Chronograph and the Professionale Chrono for example, just take more time to assemble.
TOPPER: Who is on the Anonimo design team, and have you made any recent additions to the team?
SCOTT: The Anonimo design team consists of Mr. Massacesi, and Antonio Ambuci, who is the previous owner of our finishing operations. Actually, Ambuci's father founded it. He's the real technical cad drawer, and the two of them get together and decide where they want to go. Everything in our design starts with function; what we want to watch to do. So to give you a perfect example, people ask us all the time, "Why does the Millemetri not have a magnifying glass on it?" The answer of course is that you can't have a magnifying glass on a watch that goes 100 atmospheres because it can't take the pressure. So they would start talking about "big picture" things from the overall function of the watch down to the specifics and details. From there, they actually bring in all the different people from all the operations, and do a focus group, asking, "What are the problems? What could be the strengths? What are the weaknesses?"
TOPPER: What is Mr.Dino Zei's involvement with Anonimo?
SCOTT: The most recent addition to our design team is Mr. Dino Zei. He advises us and is instrumental in the design of his own name-sake brand. Having Mr. Zei on board is something we are really excited about and is a huge validation of our history, where we come from, how we are respected in Italy, and where we are going.
