The name of this new all-Italian brand comes from the maternal grandfather of the brand's current CEO. It is in fact Fabio Presicce, aerospace engineer and CEO of Nazareno Rossetti, who explains how his first watch (and his consequent passion for watchmaking) was given to him by his grandfather: "I was twelve years old when I received my first watch: a black analogue with an orange seconds hand and a quartz movement. It was the 1980s, a time I will never forget, as I discovered one of my greatest passions thanks to that timepiece given to me by my maternal grandfather, Nazareno Rossetti. My grandfather was a simple man, but always dressed in fine Italian clothes and wearing a very old mechanical timepiece on his wrist. It was he who taught me that one can be 'essential with elegance', a principle that I also applied in the making of the Nazareno Rossetti watches'.
The brand's watches have an inspiration that could be described as 'astronomical', both in the choice of logo and in the name of the first collection to be launched. In fact, Nazareno Rossetti's logo is an astrolabe, an ancient astronomical instrument, thanks to which one can analogically perform astronomical calculations, such as locating or calculating, for a given longitude, the position of celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, planets and stars. The name of the house's first collection, however, is Fomalhaut, a name that echoes that of the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus (the 'Southern Fish'), some 25 light years away from Earth.
The watch bearing this particularly evocative name employs an original 44 mm case, made of brushed 316 steel, combined with a dodecagonal bezel with polished edges and secured by four Allen-head screws. The crown, knurled and engraved with the company logo, is screwed down and fitted with a safety bridge for the end stop, secured to the case middle by two screws.
The polished case back is screwed down. The sandwich dial, with luminescent hands and hour markers and a date window at 3 o'clock, is protected by a curved sapphire crystal.
Water-resistant to a pressure of 10 atmospheres, Nazareno Rossetti's Formalhaut is available with a green, blue or black dial. There is also a version with a black IP-treated case and strap buckle (made of vegetable-tanned leather Made in Italy). The movement used is the P224 Swiss Made calibre (28 jewels, 28,800 vibrations per hour, 41-hour power reserve), a self-winding mechanical movement based on Peseux and customised for Nazareno Rossetti.
Prices1,940 euros (version with brushed steel case); 2,430 euros (version with black IP case).
