We interviewed my friend Francesco De Honestis of Gioielleria Zingaro in Milan, Italy. One of the shops I frequent for my own vintage watch servicing and sometimes just to say hi. Francesco is both a retailer and a repairer, he works with all kinds of watches and sees a lot of high-end movements and vintage watch movements. He’s been in business for over two decades and has dedicated most of his life to horology. As the type of guy who hasn’t yet gotten a handle of social media and still maintains genuine relationships with all of his customers, we thought of him as the epitome of the type of people we wanted to interview for our Retailer Stories series.

Andres Ibarguen: Were you always interested in watches or where did this passion come from?

Francesco De Honestis: My interest in watches developed gradually as I got closer and closer to watchmaking, but the inflection point was very casual, I had to decide what to do for a career and was distinctly attracted to the Cesare Correnti Watchmaking School.

AI: How did you start working in the industry?

FD: I started working when I was very young as a ‘garzone’, in my free time after school at a small shop belonging to a watchmaker who had moved to Milan from Abruzzo. I started off working at the most basic level, but from that point, in the periphery of Milan, I had to chance to turn it into a very noteworthy experience in no time – even opening doors I hadn’t imagined before.

AI: Who founded your business?

FD: I took over this historic store over 25 years ago, but it was originally opened by a man named Michele Zingaro, who was from Andria, Puglia, and moved to Milan to study in a watchmaking school. Eventually, he opened a microscopic store in corso di Porta Vigentina, in front of via Crivelli, close to where he opened the current store a few years later; in via Ripamonti 3 near viale Filippetti – in Porta Romana.

AI: What does your store mean to you?

FD: My job represents my life, the constant and daily reality of serving my clients but also where I have an opportunity to grow, both as a person and a watchmaker - there’s always something new.

Some of the trinkets Francesco keeps in his shop

AI: Of all the watches that you’ve ever had in your store which is your favourite and why?

FD: My work as a watchmaker has allowed me to undergo several restoration projects that have given me a lot of satisfaction. Frankly, however, my work always requires great effort, with every watch, no matter how anonymous the client, everyone gets the same level of dedication. Yes, I have a personal watch collection that I take extreme care of. For more than 40 years I’ve had a Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 that is very close to me and was a loyal companion throughout my youth, an instrument I’ve used for a number of excursions and dives, that continue today.

AI: Has the store always been in the same location?

FD: Like I said before its first location was in corso di Porta Vigentina in front of via Crivelli, since 1952, and moved to its current location in via G. Ripamonti 3/A in the early 1960s.

AI: Do you have an interest in this area of Milan in particular? How have you seen it change over the years?

FD: Porta Romana is an area that allows for a lot of human interaction, everyone in the neighbourhood knows each other and says hi on the street. Over the years it has changed but it has always remained a residential area where professionals, doctors, politicians, lawyers, journalists, students, and others; especially from the nearby Università Bocconi, live together. Years ago there was also so many small, bespoke laboratories many specialized in leatherwork, producing work of very high quality that was exported to Russia and Japan.

AI: What plans do you have for the future of the store? Do you think of trying to benefit from new online sales channels, digital marketing, or new technology in general?

FD: Like I said above, learning in my job is continuous and allows me to evolve in ways that allow me to learn new techniques that can permit for accurate work, loyal to the concept of “Come in Fabbrica” which speaks to the fact that a watch, even if worn from years of use, can still be regenerated and refurbished to be like the original, just “fabbricato”. As soon as I am able, I will start to use the novel technology available online.

AI: As a business, have you already felt some effect from the emergence of the online watch community?

FD: Yes, I’ve gotten many clients lately who buy a watch online or who may have formed an opinion about a watch after having read about it online. Unfortunately, not everything is real or reliable, but this happens in every industry, the important thing is that I can give the correct answers.

AI: Are there new markets that, in your opinion, have the potential to develop in a way similar to China or Hong Kong? For example, countries like South Korea, Nigeria, South Africa, or any Latin American ones?

FD: Today, when even high horology has become a commodity, the will to expand into markets that have always guaranteed the absorption of luxury products no matter the quality creates a saturation in the market, and eventually a contraction in moments of crisis. Or even embargos for political reasons. So, markets may close but there will always be others that open and become the object of marketing campaigns aimed at the nouveau riche.

AI: How do you see the development of watches changing in the future, in terms of technology? Are things like the Spring Drive a way of the future?

FD: Unfortunately, today watchmakers are on the decline, in some cases due to moves made by some large watch brands that don’t give replacement parts and make the work more difficult. The fact that today there are multi-complication machines made that are extremely costly doesn’t give the certainty that they are necessary better. The new technology is made from incredible work but doesn’t result in more precise watches, more precise than a good watch from the last century that’s well regulated. In fact, we arrive at the paradox of things like the Spring Drive, where a significant mechanical undertaking is masked in an ultra refined electric system, that in reality is the heart of the watch. And so we see Seiko going closer towards a luxury brand like Grand Seiko, that in effect is nothing more than them hoping for a return to the past of highly finished mechanical watches, but I haven’t had a chance to work on one yet…

Thanks again to Francesco for the interview.

Passing Time in Porta Romana With Francesco De Honestis

Long Reads

Rolex Wallpapers

Search the Archive