History

The company was founded in 1965 by Gilberto Cassola, who had been apprenticed by Ugo Mensi (from Valenza, founder of the goldsmith's shop in the Second World War) and later by Robotti. The company was created with partner Luciano Provera (Cassola & Provera is the name until 1982); he carried out contract production (for van Cliff and Cartier, among others). The production was always oriented towards high-end jewellery and to the international American and European markets. The founder Gilberto was personally responsible for designing models and for the administration of the company, which employed about 20 people. The main types of fine jewellery were necklaces, rings and bracelets; diamond pavés were the most common ones.

The Co.i.nor district was conceived by Gilberto Cassola at the end of the Seventies with the intention of concentrating all the workshops in a newly built area, designed according to the most modern German regulations regarding the processing of gold and stones. Gilberto Cassola was president of "Fin Or Val", the Financial Goldsmith's Office in Valenza, which was responsible for the construction of the first exhibition building in Valenza. He then held several positions within the Associazione Orafa Valenzana, of which he was secretary and treasurer in 2009. Councillor and vice-president of Ovi Service and of the Associazione Orafa Valenzana, advisor of the consortium Prometeo, born from the collaboration between the Turin Polytechnic University and local realities for the study of particular casting techniques.

In 1982 the two members split up and Gilberto Cassola snc was born. In 1994 his son Graziano Cassola joined the company as a gemologist, with specific training at the Italian gemmological institute. Starting from the 2000s contract manufacturing was discontinued, to promote their own brand. All the production takes place within the company, today, from drawing to casting up to gem-setting. 45% of the market is made up of the United States and, as a result of participation in international trade fairs (Vicenza, New York and Las Vegas), also by clients in Switzerland, Austria and France.

The company won the S. Eligio prize in 2009.

The company's clients included Aga Khan in the 1970s.

Archive

The fund preserves partially catalogued, heterogeneous material, dating back to the 1980s, and kept in various rooms of the company. It is possible to identify some typological series, such as prototypes and rubbers, which are still used today in the production of jewellery.

The material, roughly conditioned and partially inventoried, consists of the following series:

-Technical catalogues

- Drawings

- Rubber moulds: approx.

- Vile metal models

- Photographs

- Advertising material (brochures, catalogues):

- Technical data sheets

Sources

W. Fochesato, R. Massola, Gioielli su carta. Ricchezze dorate fra fra disegni e cartoline: da Valenza all'Italia, Interlinea, Novara 2018, drawing reproduced on p. 62

Gilberto Cassola & C. s.n.c.
Circonvallazione Ovest CO.IN.OR. 13a
15048 Valenza (AL) 
+39 0131924751
info@gilbertocassola.com
www.gilbertocassola.com