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The Verga Family Story and 70 Years Dedicated to Watches

Sales and service, as well as “second-wrist” watches and vintage pieces. Here are the secrets to success for Luigi Verga Srl, which since 1947, has been selling watches to the Milanese, always out ahead of the trends


«The company has evolved as our country has evolved». This is something Umberto Verga doesn’t say lightly. He is serious, very serious. And the fact that the family-run company has successfully been in business for 75 years backs him up, having gone through a great deal of transformation over the years, inside and outside the business. When he thinks back, he can’t help but start with his grandfather, Luigi Verga, who began working at the Orologeria Giudici in 1932, located in Largo Santa Margherita on the corner of Via Tommaso Grossi…«Grandfather Luigi was an amazing master watchmaker, and, at the time, Giudici was a Rolex reseller. Rolex was already establishing itself as a high-end brand, and my grandfather was one of the few people to know how to properly fix them. He soon became the manager and, after the war, the owner. There is one moment in particular that changed history for us: on April 29, 1945, an American journalist came in. He needed a watch repaired. This was the moment my grandfather realized this was the path to take, combining sales and post-sales service. This is something that still makes us unique today. At the time, and through the 1980s, buying a watch was meant to commemorate something. A communion, graduation, a wedding…So keeping a timepiece in good condition was absolutely necessary. Then it became a more casual thing that depended on trends, all the way to what we can call the “Swatch era.” So, it is no surprise that in 1989, we opened a second store in Via Cappellari, near what had been our historic location since 1947, in Via Mazzini. It was called “Verga Ore Oggi,” and was meant for a specific target market, younger with less money to spend. It was perfect timing! In 2005, we were also out ahead of the trends in making it into a “second-wrist” store to meet the needs of our loyal customers who perhaps began to ask us to trade in an older piece for something newer. This was sort of a precursor to Verga Vintage Srl, which we launched two years ago to satisfy all of the demand for vintage collector’s pieces. This is located in Via Capelli, behind Piazza Gae Aulenti, which is an area that is truly growing where everyone is going to want to be. And we’ve been there since 2015!»

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