At just 10 years old, through his uncle Vitale, Franco begins to develop a passion for the jewellery craft. His uncle had his workbench at home, and Franco would hide behind the door to watch him work: the blowtorch, the saw, the file, the drill, all the tools used by his uncle seemed like beautiful toys to him. Sensing Franco’s passion, Vitale proposed that he work with him as long as he continued to study.
So, at the age of 13, Franco began his apprenticeship, spending days peering through the glass of the workbench to learn all the movements. And in the evening, when his uncle and the other craftsmen returned home, he could finally practice putting the day’s observations into practice.
“That’s how artisans are made,” Franco says today, “starting from childhood, stealing the craft with your eyes, transferring it to the heart, and finally to the hands.” Over time, Franco has worked in many workshops, until in 2000 he opened one of his own, which has also become his jewellery store in Naples, Italy, where today, with over 40 years of experience, he still works with the same passion.
