Morellato, silver remains the heart of the brand, which evaluates other acquisitions
"Despite the steep rise in metal prices, we are not giving up," explains CEO Massimo Carraro. With solid foundations and family capital, after the entry of the Fossil Group the company could consider further expansion
This is not sterile stubbornness, nor is it a denial of reality: for the Morellato brand and group, continuing to use only 925 silver is a conscious choice, linked to the company's history and tradition and at the same time to its vision of the future.
"In between there is the present, of course," says Massimo Carraro, president of the Veneto-based group, "and it is characterised by increases in precious raw materials that have exceeded analysts' expectations and jewellery makers' worst nightmares. Proportionally, silver has risen more than gold, and the case of platinum is also to be studied, with its erratic fluctuations over the past year. We remain faithful to silver, we are not looking for alternatives or shortcuts: we aim to tweak final prices as little as possible, inevitably penalising margins, but we do so out of respect for our DNA and our customers and because we look to the medium and long term, not the turbulence of today'.
But is it really worth sacrificing margins in order not to betray silver? "In recent years, and in 2025 in particular, we have seen how jewellery has resisted better than watchmaking the overall slowdown that has also affected the consumption of high-end goods," answers Carraro. "This is no coincidence: the intrinsic value that is perceived for jewellery is our most precious asset. Giving up silver or resorting, as some brands are doing, to gold plating that can vary greatly in resistance over time, for example, is not an option for Morellato. The same goes for gold itself: in the Bluespirit branded collections, during the pre-Christmas period, it was the 18-carat gold collections that did best. Going down to nine is not wrong in itself, let's be clear, but it inevitably diminishes the intrinsic and perceived value of a piece of jewellery'.
Massimo Carraro is aware that not everyone can make choices like Morellato's: 'In my long experience as a manager and entrepreneur I have heard family-owned companies criticised in all kinds of ways, which certainly have their flaws, but also enormous merits. The top management of a company where the majority shareholder is a family, ideally united, of course, can make decisions that for funds and listed companies are not an option'.
Carraro's strategy is also sustainable because the foundations of the Morellato Group, Italy's leading jewellery and watchmaker, are very solid: according to the data collected by the Mediobanca Research Area in the report on the Italian gold and jewellery sector (which therefore does not take into account the watch part), Bulgari (which however is part of the French colossus LVMH) leads the 2024 ranking in terms of turnover, with revenues of 846 million, Morellato is in second place with 723 million, thanks also to the acquisition of the German company Christ, which has strengthened direct control of distribution and brought retail to represent over 84% of turnover.
