Home » Not just jewels, so Damiani grows and diversifies: after Venini there is LuisaViaRoma

Not just jewels, so Damiani grows and diversifies: after Venini there is LuisaViaRoma

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Damiani’s post-Covid recovery is not measured only by the growth in turnover, but also by the numerous projects launched in 2021, which strengthen the leadership of the group. Around the heart of the company, the eponymous brand of jewelry famous above all for diamonds, the Damiani family has built a portfolio that ranges from jewelery to watches to single-brand and multi-brand retail. A portfolio made even more unique on the international scene by the presence of Venini, the historic artistic glass factory of Murano and from the recently acquired share, di LuisaViaRoma, Italian pioneer of high-end clothing and accessories e-commerce. «We are big considering the Italian reality, but small when compared with the large French and Swiss groups – underlines Guido Grassi Damiani, president of the company founded by his grandfather Enrico in Valenza in 1924 -. Over the years we have made acquisitions not only to grow, but to build a diversified reality, with possible synergies between brands and business units “.

Single-brand and multi-brand

The lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 penalized the group, which manages a network of single-brand stores (in Milan, for example, in via Monte Napoleone there are boutique Damiani e Salvini, one of the brands in the portfolio) and owns Rocca, the only Italian chain of high-end jewelery and watches. «The online channel, as for everyone, has been important and has accelerated a trend already underway, that of buying hard luxury online – explains Guido Grassi Damiani -. Compared to other types or product ranges, we need to provide more services and more advice and technology has helped us to do so. In addition to the classic phone call, you can use video calls, for example. As soon as the shops reopened, however, the customers returned and the average receipt even increased ». The Chinese have not returned, but have increased purchases at home and a group like Damiani has been able to count on a strong retail presence built over time.

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«China is an extreme case and is likely to remain closed outbound and in fact inbound for a good part of 2022, but in general it can be said that the pandemic has made local purchases grow considerably, at least partially compensating for the lack of tourists “. The president of Damiani – a group that for almost a hundred years has maintained its headquarters in Valenza and its roots in the local goldsmith district – is not currently worried about the costs of precious raw materials, but the unknowns remain: «The prices of gold and especially diamonds have stopped growing, but in the medium and long term things could change. Gold and high jewelery remain safe havens and fears about inflation, given the high liquidity in the system, will continue to push purchases and this is also why we are investing to strengthen ourselves in direct retail ». In September the Damiani group acquired the historic Zimmitti jewelers of Syracuse and after a month he entered with a minority stake in LuisaViaRoma. At the end of November he completed the purchase of 100% of the Floris Coroneo jewelers in Cagliari and Porto Cervo.

Of the interest of the big fashion brands – from Dolce & Gabbana to Gucci, from Chanel to Vuitton – for jewelery and high jewelery, Damiani is happy: «Competition is always good and in the past we have collaborated with important names in the luxury sector who needed our know-how – concludes Guido Damiani -. But there is an even more important knot, which this evolution can help solve: most of the jewelry remains unbranded, something that is not good for any player or consumers. The more brands there are, the more transparency and healthy competition increase ».

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