History

In 1963 the Lenti Villasco company was opened by two young craftsmen, Pietro Lenti and Osvaldo Villasco, in its original headquarter in Via Alfieri 15. The trademark originally granted was 1164AL then, in more recent years, it was replaced with the trademark 3795AL. For almost four decades the two partners carried on together their activity of craftsmanship and business according to Valenza’s tradition. During the first years of the 2000s important news happened: the Villasco family retired from the company and the firm entirely went to Pietro Lenti (who died in 2016) and to his offspring Danilo and Giuliana. Also the headquarters changed, moving only a few meters to an ancient and charming building dating back to 1820. In this second facility, new and larger spaces were found but also a renewed work organization was established. The world of jewellery reached a turning point for both technological and commercial aspects in fact it had to cope both with innovation, now applied to its specific processing, and to global competition, that was going to be established in this sector too. The development of digital networks changed the way of buying products by consumers and by professional buyers. Now they wanted more speed and less intermediation. And so the new headquarter became the place where all these production and business updates, useful to maintain high level over the years, were implemented.

Today the company produces medium to high range jewellery with simple designs, suspended in time and not affected by the most extreme and ephemeral trends. All the collections arise from Giuliana Lenti’s creative research, as she is the designer and responsabile of the entire conception of jewels. All production steps are carried out inside the company workshop under Danilo Lenti control. The production is based on the most recent technology (such as CAD and 3D print for wax and resin prototypes) but the presence of the human handwork is irreplaceable. Company business is largely devoted to exporting and often to contract manufacturing according to the private label practice. The consumers have the opportunity to order, using the web site, a jewel with customized features and to have it delivered in 24 hours in all Europe. Since the ‘60s Lenti Villasco has been taking part in national and international trade fairs. However, the company has started a new project offering consumers and buyers a permanent exhibition space inside its headquarters in which it is possible to show them all their collections. This is an alternative to the participation at trade fairs.

To the usual offer of jewels has been added a new line of watches created with the aesthetic principles of Lenti Villasco.

 

Archive

The moving in a new headquarter and the deep technological and organizational company renewal didn’t guarantee the complete preservation of the documents of the history of Lenti Villasco. However, as it usually happens in companies of this kind still in activity, inside the workshop it’s possible to find items linked to the past because they are still in use in the making of jewels or because they are memories with a historical, aesthetic and affective value. Consequently a historical exhibition of workbenches, tools, waxes and moulds in nickel silver has been displayed inside the original headquarter in via Alfieri. Instead the paper register of the models (which are numbered in sequential order and accompanied by sketches and notes) are still in use by the wax maker and they are located in the same space where they work. Finally all the documents produced during the last years have been preserved in digital files (sketches, technical data sheets, photographs, and so on).

Sources

www.lentivillasco.com (corporate website)