Our history & values
Tradition, passion, culture
Antica Orologeria Candido Operti boasts a more than centennial tradition in the world of jewelry and fine watchmaking and owes its affirmation to its choices of quality and class. In 2023 celebrates its 120th anniversary of activity and the 80th in the historic shop under the arcades of via Roma in Cagliari, in the heart of the city, which has become a point of reference for all lovers of top-class jewelery and watches. The books collection “Racconti Preziosi”, the cultural events and the monographic exhibitions organized under the arcades of via Roma and in the prestigious tourist locations where the Antica Orologeria Candido Operti is present in the summer monthes, represent an excellent opportunity to deepen the technical, artistic and historical aspects related to the precious object, to transmit its beauty, quality and spread its culture.
The history
Antica Orologeria Candido Operti was born in Cagliari in 1903 as a small artisan business. Its founder, Candido Operti, master watchmaker with strong professional skills, was an expert in the repair of watches and knew how to build pieces of movements by hand and at the lathe. The business expands after a few years from its foundation, when the watchmaker’s master decided to combine his work, already consolidated and appreciated, with the sale of watches. Gradually we witness a growing affirmation of the company in the commercial field: the “bottega” becomes a prestige sales point.
In the 1940s, the sons of Candido Operti, Efisio and Giorgio, started working alongside their father and their management, after the Second World War, the activity expands further. The offer is enriched with prestigious Swiss watchmaking brands and, more and more markedly, also to jewelry, silverware, gift items. However, even if the commercial aspect has taken on considerable weight, the company continues to maintain its now historic image of watchmaking. Giorgio, who has learned his father’s skills, personally takes care of all the activities related to repairs, thus continuing the tradition of an accurate, timely and high-level assistance service.
Today the company is led by his son Candido, interpreter of those values that have been handed down to him and which he has been able to consolidate and increase with study experiences in order to guarantee the continuity of a centenary tradition made of professionalism, correctness, constant updating and development: degree in law and courses of management, marketing and other specializations at the CFH-Center de Formation dans le domaine de l’Horologerie and experiences also in the field of prestigious trade associations as CIPAO president in the 90s, for many years member AIHH-Association Interprofessionnelle Haute Horologerie, and today member of the Club degli Orafi Italia.
The family business continues with his daughter Costanza, fourth generation of the Operti family.
Where we are
Via Roma
HISTORICAL STORE
For about eighty years, the Antica Orologeria Candido Operti has its historic shop in front of the port of Cagliari, in the heart of the city, under the arcades of Via Roma. In a welcoming and exclusive environment, where the offer combines the classic taste of the high range with creative and trendy lines designed for a younger audience, you can admire the collections of watches and jewels of prestigious brands particularly well-known on the international scene and the high jewelery creations of the Atelier Candido Operti. Periodically, the area in front of the store becomes the scene of important events that combine the world of jewelry, watch and precious object with other expressions of art and culture.
Resorts
SUMMER EVENTS
During the summer, the exclusive tourist resorts of South Sardinia, whose beauty is compared to the most remote tropical paradises, are the setting for the display of “precious” events of Antica Orologeria Candido Operti. Today the company is present at the Pullman Timi Ama Hotel in Villasimius, and at the Conrad Chia Laguna Sardinia. Showcases “dedicated” to high-end, classic and trendy jewelery creations, and to timepieces that stand out in the panorama of Swiss fine watchmaking for technical and aesthetic qualities. An evocative setting for the monographic exhibitions that the Antica Orologeria Candido Operti organizes, in collaboration with the important brands of fine watchmaking and jewelery, to bring its audience closer to this world of precious beauty and refined technique. These are appointments with beauty and elegance, of pleasant conviviality, where the Antica Orologeria Candido Operti welcomes guests from all over the world, clients and friends, with the usual professionalism and cordiality. Because behind every precious object there is always a universe to discover, made of history, dreams, ideas and lots of creativity.
