From the Romans to Michelangelo

Why Carrara?

Italian marble has enthralled generations as an element of luxury and refinement. Named after the town in Tuscany, the mountains of Carrara is home to the finest pieces of marble, each unique like a fingerprint. With its contrasting surface and colorful past, the stone from Carrara has always stood up against changing fashion – making it timeless.

Italian marble has enthralled generations as an element of luxury and refinement. Named after the town in Tuscany, the mountains of Carrara is home to the finest pieces of marble, each unique like a fingerprint. With its contrasting surface and colorful past, the stone from Carrara has always stood up against changing fashion – making it timeless.

“Fortitudo mea in rota”

“Fortitudo mea in rota”

Carrara marble has been associated with exclusivity nearly since the dawn of modern civilization 2.000 years ago. It became the signature of the Roman Empire, transforming Rome to the architectural icon it is today. The emperor Augustus once boasted, “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble”. Its profound legacy lives on in masterpieces like the Pantheon, still preserved in the center of Rome.

Regardless if you are standing on the mountains themselves or just strolling the streets of Carrara, the city keeps reminding you about the impact the marble has had on the town. A symbolic wheel exposes itself in various forms throughout Carrara, explained with the words “my force is in the wheel”. The wheel represents the transportation with cartwheel that made it possible to move heavy blocks of marble and thus making the city the capital of marble. The same wheel that is engraved on our watch crown and stamped on our leather straps.

Carrara marble has been associated with exclusivity nearly since the dawn of modern civilization 2.000 years ago. It became the signature of the Roman Empire, transforming Rome to the architectural icon it is today. The emperor Augustus once boasted, “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble”. Its profound legacy lives on in masterpieces like the Pantheon, still preserved in the center of Rome.

Regardless if you are standing on the mountains themselves or just strolling the streets of Carrara, the city keeps reminding you about the impact the marble has had on the town. A symbolic wheel exposes itself in various forms throughout Carrara, explained with the words “my force is in the wheel”. The wheel represents the transportation with cartwheel that made it possible to move heavy blocks of marble and thus making the city the capital of marble. The same wheel that is engraved on our watch crown and stamped on our leather straps.

Moving mountains. Marmotest s.a.s

THE ANGEL IN THE MARBLE

THE ANGEL IN THE MARBLE

The most prominent use of Carrara marble lies in the artworks of legendary artists like Donatello, Antonio Canova, and above all, Michelangelo.

Michelangelo believed that the masterpiece was already present in the material. He embodied his idea with the famous words “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”. For him, it was a process of taking away excess to reveal beauty rather than a process of adding anything. Wheres other considered the veining in the stone as imperfect, Michelangelo added a new level of detail by working with those imperfections.

The most prominent use of Carrara marble lies in the artworks of legendary artists like Donatello, Antonio Canova, and above all, Michelangelo.

Michelangelo believed that the masterpiece was already present in the material. He embodied his idea with the famous words “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”. For him, it was a process of taking away excess to reveal beauty rather than a process of adding anything. Wheres other considered the veining in the stone as imperfect, Michelangelo added a new level of detail by working with those imperfections.

The beauty lives in the details. Accademia di Belle Arti

A TRIP TO THE CARRARA MOUNTAINS

WHERE EVERY LIDESTE IS BORN

With marble quarries scattered along the landscape and with the Ligurian coastline in the background, the view from the Apuan Alps in Carrara is like nothing else. The beauty of the stone lies in its imperfections since it is manufactured exclusively by the nature of Carrara.

With marble quarries scattered along the landscape and with the Ligurian coastline in the background, the view from the Apuan Alps in Carrara is like nothing else. The beauty of the stone lies in its imperfections since it is manufactured exclusively by the nature of Carrara.

THE CAPITAL OF WATCHMAKING
WHY SWISS MADE
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