Region: Tuscany
Industries: 1,400
People employed: 10,000
Turnover: 6,000 million euro Exports: 72%

Contact organisation:
Consorzio produttori orafi aretini
Via Fleming 1 52100 – Arezzo
tel. +39 0575 381333
fax. +39 0575 382029

The Tuscan gold-crafting Industrial District is located almost exclusively in the Province of Arezzo and includes, in addition to the Municipality of the Province’s chief town, another twelve municipalities. The productive structure of the gold-crafting district of Arezzo has developed in an opposite direction to the one generally followed by the other Italian districts: in just a few years the local enterprises have passed from a structure based on big concerns to local productive systems based on SMEs. The Uno-A-Erre company, born of the dynamic local entrepreneurial spirit in the Seventies and Eighties (founded in 1926 by Leopoldo Gori and Carlo Zucchi and at present part of the Gori & Zucchi group), has contributed directly to the birth of local SMEs. Former Uno-A-Erre employees (many of whom left as a consequence of restructuring), especially skilled workers in the sector, became entrepreneurs on a small scale and founded over 1,000 artisan enterprises. At present the District again finds itself at a crossroads involving the need for a multitude of small and very small local enterprises to carry out a diversification in the type of product created. The District is in fact forced to face competition on the domestic front from other Italian gold- working centres, such as Marcianise-Torre del Greco and Rimini, and on the international front too, especially from Asia, with regard to gold ‘chains’, one of its traditional product specialities. This is one of the reasons for the local expansion and growth of silver products in recent years. Arezzo has recently been recognised by the Tuscan Region under the new name of ‘Gold-crafting and Silver-crafting District’ and major initiatives in the sector have spread awareness of its identity and importance abroad. Among these the renowned International Gold-crafting, Silver-crafting and Jewellery Fair held each year in Arezzo.

Sources:
www.tuscanyvalley.net
www.ice.it
www.voguegioiello.net
www.primapagina.regione.toscana.it