“DO GLASSES LIKE THESE HAVE A SOUL?”

It’s not a rhetorical question. And it doesn’t take long to get an answer. When Micaela De Falchi says “yes”, she really means it. It is the sincere expression of a job that combines manual skill with passion. To that one little word of assent, Micaela adds: “These glasses describe both the person who made them and the love that went into putting them together, designing and making them, and the soul of the wearer, of course, as they become a part of the person who wears them, for whom putting them on becomes an entirely natural act.” Non è una domanda retorica. Bastano pochi istanti per avere una risposta. Quel "sì" che esce dalle labbra di Micaela De Falchi è molto di più di una risposta scontata. È l’espressione sincera di un lavoro dove la manualità va ad intrecciarsi con la passione. A quelle due lettere che esprimono un suo pensiero affermativo Micaela aggiunge: "Questo occhiale può descrivere sia la persona che l'amore che ci ha messo nell’assemblarlo, così di chi l’ha progettato e lo ha realizzato, fino naturalmente all’anima di chi lo indosserà visto che diventerà parte di quella persona che con un gesto naturale lo poserà sul suo viso

MICAELA’S WORDS EXPRESS NOT ONLY HER LOVE OF HER JOB, BUT THE JOY SHE GETS OUT OF DOING IT.

We all do a lot of little things every day, though we often forget exactly why we are doing them. Creating a pair of glasses means assembling it, seeing it finished, and it’s something that goes beyond a series of simple gestures. It’s all about manual skill, craftsmanship and customisation. Micaela’s job is like a jeweller’s. Not only because the glasses she makes have a prestigious name, “Chopard”, but because, as she herself says, they have a soul.

MICAELA DE FALCHI: FROM ROME TO LONGARONE.

From working as a surveyor on construction sites to the De Rigo eyewear plant. An important step. A milestone more than twenty years in the past.

With great care, skill, and delicacy. These are three of the ingredients that make the glasses Micaela puts together truly special. And perhaps this is the path to quality manufacturing that expands to become part of an industry. There are rituals behind every little movement of her hands. As in a poem, every single step triggers an emotion. Every act has its own vital rhythm. And so Micaela takes the glasses she is working on, fits the nose pads onto the hooks on the front piece, then fits the temple tip onto the temple. She then sets crystal pearls into the bridge and finishes the frames by assembling the thin temples onto the front piece.

This is what working in the Chopard island is all about: making something truly extraordinary. Making something that has a soul. Micaela does all this with her hands. Micaela does it with her heart.