By Jovan Krstevski
D1 Milano is the brainchild of the Italians, Dario Spallone, CEO who is joined by his close friend Alessandro Pedersoli, Chief Design Officer. Yours truly believes that the horology world needs more people like them in terms of innovation and inspiration. It’s not like you just wake up, had an idea, and went for it… the world is not a soft ground to walk on and these guys have so much in their story that is relatable to most of us who share well, the same world.
The D1 Milano came to being early September 2012. Dario admits that his friend Alessandro still joined him to pursue his goal of creating a watch brand after 2 failed attempts in completely different industries. This allowed their partnership to grow and they stood ground amid the wrong people and challenges. Folks, if you have something in mind, listen well to these guy’s story.
Dario shares the mistakes he made such as trusting the wrong people and risking too much. In a company, you always need trustworthy people and no matter what you do, it’s nearly impossible to filter the wrong kinds of people, that’s why most successful companies have safety nets in place. Dario also noted that the only way to test his ideas was right on the field, brilliant choice but very risky. He shares that he was fueled by one simple logic, “I have to move on”. Fortunately for these guys, it all paid out. Five years on, they have created many watches powered by both quartz and automatic movements.
The D1 team is purely Italian, while this may not be related to fast cars, some things about the watches feature some tell tales signs like being fashionable and extremely thin, innovations you see on many Italian endeavors. OK so getting back to the D1 Milano, the brand has presence in 21 countries such as the UK, Switzerland, and countries in the Middle East and in Asia too. Note that they have best seller retailers in these countries. The D1 Milano has basically conquered the world, a feat not to be taken lightly. This is made possible by the brand’s social media presence. Today, if companies don’t innovate in terms of production and marketing, they basically pop like a bubble. In the horology world, this is very much what is going on. We see more and more start-ups that are crowd-funded and highly competent in terms of their influence in the industry. Of course, the big boys are armed to the teeth with both experience and mastery of the craft; time after all is gold in this business.
The D1 Milano’s Ultra Thin collection includes cutting-edge watches dedicated to a dynamic and flexible lifestyle. Personally, the design and build of the watch is well executed. Function is as important as fashion and these can be seen on the clean dial with highly legible hands and indices that also match the slim steel case on either 40 or 38 mm width. Now, it’s nice to have a choice for a dressy watch and the 40 mm is quite the best one for me. The brand also claims that their watches are non-replicable, I somehow agree. The case design of the watches in the collection is very unique marked with flat profiles and brushed steel look. Overall, the collection is superb.
Lesson here is that it’s quite possible to venture in this industry without having lots of experience in watchmaking. D1 Milano provides a source of inspiration that you can wear, lovely.
For more info, please visit d1milano.com
