Starting with brass billets, the handles are forged, milled, polished, buffed, chrome-plated and hallmarked with a laser. Olivari has attained ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications.
Though it uses the most advanced technology, Olivari preserves all the artisanal wisdomit has accumulated in 110 years of history.
Battista Olivari founds the company in 1911 in Borgomanero, in the province of Novara.
In 1926, Battista is succeeded by his wife Antonietta Ramelli, one of the few women directing a company at the time. In the 1930s, the first collaboration with architects begins with Marcello Piacentini and Gio Ponti, two of the important Italian architects of the era.
Starting in the 1960s, Olivari is looking for new designs, and decides to call on the leading exponents of Italian design such as Sergio Asti, Marcello Nizzoli and Joe Colombo.
At the same time it never stops following evolutions in technology: in 1959 it markets Bica, the world’s first anodized aluminum handle. In 1970 it introduces Boma, the first colored plastic handle. They both quickly become widely copied best-sellers.
World designers
Michael Anastassiades
Kai Linke
Carlo Colombo
Mad Architects