Fawaz Gruosi first encountered this luxurious and noble material whilst visiting an Antique boutique in Paris.
Fawaz Gruosi is constantly searching for new innovative designs, materials, and ideas, and as such he often visits these marvel-filled places in hopes of finding his next revelation. In the Galuchat, he found a sensory inspiration that would later on become quintessentially de GRISOGONO.
Galuchat is defined as the skin of a fish - a ray or spotted dogfish, with «placoïdes» type scales which have the same composition as teeth. This turns the material very hard and difficult for craftsmen to work with. It had its heyday during the Enlightenment era thanks to the skill of some master case-makers, in particular Jean-Claude Galluchat who had his workshop on the Quai des Morfondus, in Paris.
This man had developed a unique polishing and dying technique for skins, for which he became famous. The Galluchat family was a long line of case-makers, their skills being handed down from father to son, and it was natural that they should give their name to this precious material. In the XVIII century, spotted dogfish or ray skin was also used as an essential material in covering cases for precision instruments, salt cellars, spectacles, watches.
Of all Galuchat skin types, de GRISOGONO uses the sting ray skin for its coarse grain and the feel of it in its untreated and unpolished state. With all its roughness, it is a real «black diamond of the sea ». Fawaz Gruosi started using it on its first watch collection launched in 2000 adorning the Instrumento N. UNO with a Galuchat strap. Becoming one of the few to ever do so and by thus integrating the elite circle of luxury brands. Following the incredible success of this launch, the Galuchat jewellery collection was launched in 2003 creating the paroxysm of merging organic materials with gold and diamonds. De GRISOGONO offered a precious and fun line fit for parties in town or by the seaside. With an array of playful motifs inspired by creatures of land and sea, the octopuses, elephants, dolphins, turtles and ladybirds are indispensable and absolute inescapable must-haves.
Galuchat has since then become a trademark of de GRISOGONO's success. It is the ultimate statement of luxury and avant-gardism which solely defines the brand and is part of its DNA. Its use has transpired through time into different watch collections such as Instrumentino, Piccolina and Tondo Collection but also through jewellery with magnificent pieces such as bracelets, earrings and rings.
