1927-1937 Our history begins in Florence, in Piazza Santo Stefano, where Tullio Bigalli, together with his wife Bruna, decided to turn his passion for watches into a profession.

Both spent most of their time in the shop and soon managed to make it into a well-known spot for watchmakers, collectors and repairers, who knew they would find all they needed in Bigalli’s: rare pieces and components made by hand with extreme care and Swiss-like precision. In a short time, Bigalli came to mean high professionalism in the fields of watch repairing, tools and implements.

1937-1944 The activity was very prosperous in those years. Needing wider premises to accommodate the ever growing and by then bulky storehouse, the shop was moved to Por Santa Maria.
Unfortunately and unavoidably, the violence of the war forced the owners to close the premises and, as a consequence, the whole assortment of items collected over more than ten years of work was lost.



1945-1951 However, the passion for the century-old watchmaker profession was not abandoned. Franco Bigalli pulled together the experience handed down to him by his father Tullio and, as soon as circumstances allowed it, he opened a new shop in via dei Neri. His wife Rina stood by Franco’s side everyday and helped him in the delicate and arduous task of reorganizing the workshop, committing herself totally to the family business.

1951-1966 The already well-established business was moved to Piazza del Pesce. Here the Bigalli tradition regained its vigor and achieved once more top-quality results. The techniques were refined day by day and the expertise and specialization allowed Bigalli to become official supplier of some of the most prestigious names in the field of tools and implements for horology. Here, in the shop of Piazza del Pesce, young Andrea observed his father’s work with extreme attention and learnt the secrets of the profession, caught by his child’s eyes without his knowing it.

On November 4th 1966, in the space of a few hours, the tremendous flood that deranged Florence submerged the by then prestigious shop and erased for the second time the fruit of years of indefatigable work.

1966-2003 The premises were moved once again to Piazza Stazione, where the business was restarted practically from scratch by Andrea Bigalli, who managed through the years to bring the Bigalli name back to its previous prestige.

May 10th 2003: with the opening of the brand new premises in via Finiguerra Maso, Andrea Bigalli , fanked by Pino Bolgi, has answered with pride and determination the challenges fate has thrown at him.

This is a new beginning and a starting point to consolidate the future role of Bigalli’s as an improved and state-of-the-art focal point for repairing watches and clocks of all brands and time periods. Worldwide famous manufacturers choose Bigalli as their authorized retailer.
Here, connoisseurs can find components that are rare or impossible to find elsewhere and that will bring the watches of their collection back to life. A tale of passion and professionalism handed down from father to son over three generations is beginning again right here.