The Glenyville Story

Tesoro has been a labour of love for my family for three generations. It all started in 1973 when my adventurous grandfather (Nonno) Francesco decided to create the Tesoro brand in a small country town just outside Lucca, Italy.

As the story goes, my Nonno shared a vision with his cousin Roberto, which was to create a jewellery collection that would represent his love of Italy and design. Every evening on the walk home from work, Francesco would walk past the jewellery stores in Lucca often remarking to his cousin on how much he could improve on the range of jewellery available at the time. Tired of listening to Francesco talk about his jewellery design dreams, his cousin Roberto one day remarked, “Well why don’t you do something about it and create our own jewellery?”. This was just the push Francesco needed. The very next day Francesco quit his job and commenced designing jewellery. Francesco worked tirelessly on his designs and within a month he had designed his first collection. It consisted of a small selection of 18-carat earrings and pendants in yellow gold.

Francesco canvassed the streets of Lucca, going door to door to potential customers and within a week he had completely sold out of every design. From that day on he knew the market had a good appetite for his jewellery designs.

With my Nonna Rina beside him, Francesco would travel to nearby towns showcasing his pieces as though they were his beautiful children. He was so very proud of each piece as it would take him months to design and then redesign each element until he was convinced it was perfect. He and Nonna would often discuss the intricacies of his designs over dinner. Their often heated discussions were filled with passion and were always entertaining. Mostly I recall how Francesco would always tell my Nonna how perfection was the key to beautiful design and that a woman deserves nothing but perfection.

A true storyteller, Francesco would not hesitate to design pieces that told his story; from robust shapes and ultra-modern sizes, it was like every detail represented a part of him. My father would tell me how as a child he would lay in his bed and the sound of the machines creating the jewellery collections that my grandfather was so proud of would fill the silence.

As my father Enzo grew, so did his passion for perfection and in 1974 he joined the business and just like that, Tesoro became a true family business. The story of my fathers first day at work is still discussed to this day. Enzo recalls asking Francesco for some training at the very least to ease him into his new role. Francesco’s reply was straight forward and to the point: “These are your samples, those are my customers, go and find your own”.

Now in its third generation, Tesoro is available in 12 different countries and has established itself as one of the premier modern contemporary jewellery brands. Driven by the same desire that Francesco dreamed about over 40 years ago, the Tesoro mantra is to constantly stretch the boundaries of design, striving to create defined and feminine jewellery collections that accentuate the true beauty of a woman.

Please take the time to peruse through our collections and enjoy the feminine and delicate detail that three generations have strived to perfect with no limitation. Enjoy!