Archive for the ‘Giuliano Mazzuoli’ category

Giuliano Mazzuoli – The Greatest Gift

July 10th, 2010

Giuliano Mazzuoli WatchesGiuliano Mazzuoli’s recent partnership with Paul Newman is certainly a worthy one. Watch manufacturers team up with charities quite frequently. It’s a way to contribute to a worthy cause while simultaneously improving the image of the brand and the company. But Mazzuoli’s work seems of an even more resolute and magnanimous origin.

Giuliano Mazzuoli was recently honored with the 2009 “Watch of the Year” award for the Contagiri–a piece based upon the pressure gauges found in race cars. His love of racing inspired the piece, and he looked to share it with a fellow enthusiast. That man would turn out to be the famous Paul Newman. Mazzuoli went on to donate not just one Contagiri, but twenty-five of them to Mr. Newman’s very own charity, Hole in the Wall.

Especially enjoyable in this instance is the common passion the two men share for racing. Somehow they manage to find a way to overlap race cars, fine watches, and sick children. Hole in the Wall allows terminally ill children a chance to enjoy the same kinds of summer camps which most healthy kids experience.

Additionally, Mazzuoli’s contribution seems to go far beyond what sometimes could be perceived of as mere superficiality. As stated, many fine watch manufacturers donate commemorative pieces, or have charities of choice. Donating not only feels good, but helps the company as well. With Mazzuoli however, the gift feels even more real. These were his masterpieces, and he gifted Newman with twenty-four more of them than were requested. His actions will add another dimension to the already famous Contagiri. It won’t just be the greatest watch produced in the world during 2009, but will also carry with it the humanitarian aspect. It wasn’t just a watch made to be beautiful, but also designed to accomplish humane, important goals.

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Giuliano Mazzuoli Creates the Paul Newman Contagiri

March 10th, 2010

Giuliano Mazzuoli created 25 Paul Newman watches to be auctioned for Newman's Foundation: Hole in the Wall CampsIn 2009 the strikingly different and innovative Contagiri from Giuliano Mazzuoli won the Dutch Horloges magazine’s ‘Watch of the Year Award’, in one of the men’s watches category. What makes Giuliano Mazzuoli watches so unique is that their design is based on a pressure gauge found on cars and machines. To say that Giuliano Mazzuoli likes auto racing and racing cars is perhaps an understatement. But it is this passion that has been used to help others.

Mazzuoli describes the moment he received the first prototype of the Contagiri: “When I received the first prototype of ‘Contagiri’ I felt a strong desire to show it to someone that I have always admired and that like me, really loves auto racing.”

That person he was referring to is Paul Newman, another man renowned for his passion for cars and racing. Mazzuoli got to meet Newman, and to give Newman his dream watch. Paul Newman wanted to auction the watch for his foundation: Hole in the Wall Camps. Giuliano Mazzuoli went a step further and provided 25 watches for auction.

Hole in the Wall Camps provides children with serious illnesses a medically safe but at the same time a magical environment of fun and adventure away from the realities of hospital beds and doctors’ offices they are often so used to. These camps are the work of Paul Newman, and they are also made possible by thousands of volunteers and generous donors. So far, over 114 000 children from 33 countries have attended 11 of these camps, free of charge.

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Watch Collectors Gather in Florence

October 27th, 2009

giuandfirnd_sAt the end of September watch collectors and enthusiasts from all over the world gathered in Florence. They were there to pay a special tribute to Italian watch-making. The venue was the luxury Four Seasons hotel, and the host was the maverick watchmaker Giuliano Mazzuoli.

Guests to this exclusive event were treated to a special Sunday morning cocktail in the hotel’s ‘Chapel’ room. Here they were able to meet Giuliano Mazzuoli in person and discuss with him his passion for watches and Italian design.

And of Giuliano Mazzuoli’s truly innovative watches, there was the Manometro and various prototypes of the Contagiri on hand to touch and feel.

Mazzuoli originally wanted a watch without a crown and without hands, and it was this desire that led to the Contagiri. The Contagiri was inspired by the Alfa Romeo’s rev counter; in fact contagiri is the Italian word for rev counter. This watch now comes in over 500 versions.

But it was the Manometer that launched Giuliano Mazzuoli on to the world watch making stage in 2004. A watch that was inspired by a barometer.

Giuliano Mazzuoli is a former racing driver. So it was a special treat for one lucky guest who got to drive around the city of Florence with Mazzuoli in his Alfa 8C – the very car that inspired one of the versions of the Contagiri.

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