Venezianico watches, suspended between Air and Sea

“Venezianico watches were born out of a passion for watchmaking and a love for our territory, which we want to make known and appreciated through creations inspired by the essence of Venetian style.”

We think that, in these words from Alberto and Alessandro Morelli, the two founders of the company, there is much of what animates a Maison like Venezianico (formerly Meccaniche Veneziane). While it isn’t easy to pronounce, especially for an Anglo-Saxon, you can do it like a pro as it was ve-ne-zea-ni-koh.

This respect for your legacy tells a lot about the company spirit that is an integral part of it since it expresses its soul, the passion that led its (very young) founders to invent it and launch it on the market with a dream that, in the outcome, that we can see today, has certainly gone well.

The company in short

• Name – Venezianico (formely Meccaniche Veneziane)
• Founding – 2017
• Location – Italy
• Specialized in – Sports watches, Divers
• Movements – Seiko, mechanical

The story of Venezianico

Venezianico started its business in 2017, following the long wave of Kickstarter watch companies. But unlike many others, focusing on a particular entrepreneurial project. The intuition was to return to the history of quality Swiss watchmaking of years past, that is, to that fabric – now almost disappeared at least on Swiss soil – of highly specialized artisans and micro-companies that collaborated on specific projects, each providing its own excellence. Hence, what, over time, and even somewhat derogatorily by the paladins of Manufacture, came to be known as Etablissage.

Today, it is no longer Switzerland that serves as the reference point of watchmaking, but the whole world: and Venezianico has learned to carefully select the best global talents to create its watchmaking pieces, accompanying them with significant technical and finishing content, and why not, an affordable price. Resuming in part one of the focal points of the history of the territory that hosts the company: Venice, the Maritime Republic that was at the center of the world for trade, where merchants chose and traded only the best products coming from faraway lands.

Venezianico watches current lineup

What you notice in Venezianico watches us its sporty slant, ranging from sporty casual, represented by the Redentore line, inspired by the Palladio-designed basilica of the same name, to the Nereide, the house’s diver model, and ending with the new Nereide Ultraleggero, a semi-skeleton watch with great personality, and the line being launched in Autumn 2022, the Nereide GMT.

All of Venezianico’s models mount Seiko mechanical calibers, often customized to the house’s needs. They are available for sale from its e-commerce featured on the company website and selected retailers in Italy and around the world.

The interview

1 – Who are you as a watchmaker? How did you enter this world?

We approached horology in high school as a hobby, of course. Then, we started learning about the brands, the models, the specs, and the technique. 

We even sketched some drawings of what would have been our ideal watch, which is quite common among watch enthusiasts, but starting a watchmaking company was just a fantasy at that time. 

2 – How was Venezianico born and when?

Well, it didn’t take long before we realized this dream could become true.

In 2016, Alberto had just returned from Australia, where he attended a semester at Melbourne University (studying for his master’s degree in Finance) and brought back some fresh ideas about how we could start a business in watchmaking for real. 

We dusted off our sketches and took a plane to Hong Kong. We spent two weeks exploring the Guangdong province to meet component suppliers, visit their production facilities, and acquire the necessary knowledge to assess if this enterprise was actually feasible. 

And the answer was “yes”! It took one year to get from the early concept to the first working prototype, and in mid-2017, we launched the first Venezianico watches (as Meccaniche Veneziane) on Kickstarter, the most popular American crowdfunding platform. In three rounds, we collected over $800.000.

3 – Where do you draw inspiration from as a watchmaker?

Venice is obviously our source of inspiration. You should consider several aspects of the city: not only the monuments, the colors, and the materials of the buildings, but also the history, the mood, and the character of the inhabitants of this peculiar world suspended between the sky and the sea. Nereide, our diving watch, refers to the submarine Nereide, built in the drydocks of Venice in 1913. This is the epitome of the pioneering spirit of Venetians, the courage to undertake perilous endeavors. The Redentore, instead, is a more dressy timepiece inspired by the Basilica del Redentore, a marvel of Neoclassical architecture designed by the famous architect Andrea Palladio. 

4 – What is your favorite movement/complication/type of watch and why?

There are many fascinating complications, but we can say that our favorite is the power reserve indicator. This is the most useful feature in an automatic watch, or at least the one you will use more often. So it was fascinating to implement it in our most refined timepiece, the Redentore Riserva di Carica, which features a hammer-head power reserve indicator hinged to the central shaft, a rarity because it usually is placed somewhere else on the dial. 

5 – What is your goal from a watchmaking point of view?

Our vision is for Venezianico watches to become the point of reference for Italian watchmaking. We are working hard to consolidate our distinctiveness in design to make our watches immediately recognizable.

Since the beginning, we have also striven to attract young talents in design, engineering, and digital marketing, and they are now part of our team. We want our company to be an opportunity for them to use their creativity and skills.

6 – What sets Venezianico watches apart from the competition?

There is no brand out there with a clear inspiration for a city like Venice, which offers so many symbols and states of mind a person can identify with. Also, our use of colors is pretty unique in the horology landscape. 

Finally, we have reached such a balance in our products that allow us to keep our price tag fair without compromising on the quality of components. Furthermore, we want to be an inclusive brand, and affordability is crucial. For these reasons, working with the right partners plays a fundamental role. For example, we recently launched our Nereide GMT 39, equipped with Seiko NH34/4R34 movement, the first affordable GMT caliber produced by one of the world’s top manufacturers. 

7 – Who are your ideal customers? How do you reach them?

We like people that we can build personal relationships with. Therefore, we want to interact via social media with our community and other enthusiasts, ask them questions, and hear their opinion on specific topics. In brief, we make them part of our projects, which is one of the aspects that make us a genuinely modern brand, and Venezianico watches a well-appreciated choice for horology enthusiasts.

8 – Where is the watch industry going?

Downsizing is undoubtedly a trend that emerged recently.

Therefore, this year we have introduced a new generation of 39mm cases belonging to the Nereide collection, a 3-handed and a GMT version. Furthermore, we are currently working on expanding our models’ range by introducing a chronograph and a completely new case; both will not exceed 41mm in diameter.