When the Italian dolce vita becomes a watch, with Mo Coppoletta & Alessandro Ristori

Pietro Pilla

The recently founded Gagà Laboratorio is the new brand of Ruben Tomella, and on the occasion of the latest Geneva Watch Days, it presented two new Labormatic models inspired by the lines and style of the second post-war in Italy. One of these is the Cinquanta, and while sharing the same overall specs with the Bauhaus, it features a distinct design paying tribute to the 1950s, a time when the world was rediscovering peace. The inspiration came not only from the Italian economic boom of that time, but also from the American world of chromed cars, vibrant jukeboxes, and the Jet Age in general.

The pastel green sage completes the design of what we can call a sector dial with a twist, having a rotating disc instead of the seconds hand, and two rotating windows framing the current hour and minute. While the brand was created by Ruben Tomella and Mo Coppoletta serves as creative director, for this particular model we have an additional figure that best embodies the spirit of the watch: Alessandro Ristori.

We managed to talk with both Coppoletta and Ristori to understand how this collaboration started. Their collaboration then resulted in the short film that now serves as a teaser of not only the watch, but mostly of what it represents. The movie is written by the duo, and titled Le Scelte Giuste, meaning “the right choices, and it as a manifesto of the Dolce Vita of which both artists have been ambassadors for most of their careers.

A few words about Mo Coppoletta…

This is not Mo Coppoletta’s first rodeo in the watch industry. He’s an Italian artist and designer known for his contributions to both the tattoo world and luxury design, but he’s probably best-known by watch people for his work with Bulgari. In the past decade, he released three different limited-editions Octo Finissimos together with Chronopassion, where the watch industry and the tattoo world blend together in three pieces that are closer to art than design.

His relationship with watches is much more profound than this. He’s a collector of eclectic taste at first, but he’s worked together with Romain Jerome, Sarpaneva, and many others, making straps for Panerai and collaborating with Luca Soprana and Philippe Dufour.

Watches however are not his only field of interest. Intricate engravings, symbolic imagery, and thoughtful storytelling that distinguish his style are often finding a place in the drink industry, interior design, automotive and fashion. He’s a polyhedric figure eschewing minimalism, as he says it helps hide weaknesses. All his work is the opposite, inspired by decorative art, from Victorianism to advertising art between the 1940s and 1960s.

…and a few more words about Alessandro Ristori

While Alessandro Ristori’s involvement with the watch industry is less evident, his reinterpretation of 1950s shows and music makes him a phenomenal ambassador for the message of this watch. He’s an Italian singer, songwriter, and performer known for his retro-inspired style and vibrant stage presence. His music range is a blend of rock, Italian pop, and classic swing, drawing heavily from the golden eras of the 1950s and 1960s.

He’s often been referred to as the Italian Elvis, as he channels the energy of icons like the King of Rock and Roll and Adriano Celentano. His sound is a nostalgic, yet fresh, fusion of vintage charm and contemporary flair. Other than his music, the influence of the past eras is visible also in his charismatic persona and distinctive voice. With his signature look – often featuring tailored suits and slicked-back hair – Ristori embodies timeless cool, making him a standout figure in modern music with a timeless, retro edge.

The interview

Now that you’ve had a chance to learn more about our guests, I’ll leave you with the interview. Since we’ve already delved deeply into the watches themselves, this conversation focuses more on the journey leading up to the watch, the creative process and vision that inspired the design, and how that ultimately led to the collaboration.

Pietro Pilla: I imagine your collaboration stems from a long-standing friendship. Could you share how you first met?

Alessandro Ristori: Mauro and I met in London three and a half years ago, living a London dolce vita made up of members clubs, music, discussing art, cinema, good food, wine and cigars. Certainly, our London landmark was, is, and will remain Harry’s Bar in Mayfair.

Mo Coppoletta: Yes, that’s right, Alessandro and I met in London while he was on tour and together we immediately realised that we shared the same idea of life and our friendship was born in an instant.

PP: How did you find yourselves working together on this project and how did your creative synergy develop?

AR: I am only a witness in this project, and I hope to be a valid witness representing with my body, my movement, my face, my movements and my expressions, what this wonderful piece of art is in the watch itself; I can only tell you what Mauro told me. “While I was designing, I thought Alessandro was the right man to represent this object made of Italianism and 1950s modernism.”

MC: As Alessandro said, while I was designing the watch, we were discussing internally who could best represent our timepiece. Without hesitation, I thought of Alessandro also because in my mind, as long as I was drawing it and listening to music, I unconsciously imagined Alessandro wearing our watch on his wrist. Just as he reinterprets suggestions of an era but in a very contemporary way, our watch evokes traits of a glorious past but in a contemporary way.

PP: What is your view of the concept of “right choices”, and how is this reflected in your careers and personal lives?

AR: There is a saying: “Make me a fortune teller and I’ll make you rich!” That would be the easiest way to make the right choices, but on the contrary, I think the only way to deem a choice right is to act on instinct, sifting through all the probabilities and realising that this choice is making you happy, is giving you an emotion, something positive, a vibration that starts in your head and reaches your feet.

MC: The concept of “right choices” is given by the fact that, most probably, the world I am inspired by no longer exists or perhaps never existed and certain suggestions belong to a world that, in any case, is not easy to find in 2024. Only by putting together favourite places, people you love, flavours, colours, places, and music through choices we call the “right choices” can you build that hypothetical world to which you aspire. Life is made of choices and finding the right ones may be difficult, it takes time and effort but it is those choices that make you happy.

PP: What are your future projects, both individually and together, and how do you plan to continue spreading the dolce vita message?

AR: There are many projects, both on a record level and beyond. I think this is a first step in the collaboration between Mo Coppoletta and myself because when you create an artistic synergy it lasts for a certain period and before it runs out it is right to use it, to squeeze it, because something beautiful always comes out of it and we are for beauty.

MC: I think that spreading the dolce vita concept is, and will only be, a natural consequence of a job well done and not an end to be pursued. As far as we can, Alessandro and I will do our part, it will be up to the sensitivity of the people who will be able to tune in to our messages to enjoy our work.

PP: The watch is undoubtedly the bearer of iconic messages and innovative shapes, ideally who would you like to see wearing it?

AR: I would like to see it worn by people who experience elegance very naturally. This is one of my missions, to see elegance back in people as something every day, not induced and obligatory for certain occasions.

MC: I would like to see the watch on the wrists of people I respect and who also respect me, worn in an elegant or sporty, light-hearted or more serious manner, to see it worn with personality and joy.  To see a person wearing it in a place where I am also present and to see people’s interaction with the watch I think is the highest aspiration and satisfaction for any designer.

PP: How did the idea of creating The Right Choices come about, and what is the main message you want to convey?

Mo Coppoletta: The Right Choices is an autobiographical effort but told by the voice and presence of Alessandro who echoes me as he shares the thoughts and reflections of the short film with me. The main message is that la dolce vita, or as we call it, vita dolce, is an attitude that we carry within us and that can be lived daily by making the right choices for ourselves that require sensitivity, romanticism and study.

PP: What was your main inspiration for the design of the Labormatic Cinquanta?

MC: It was a hypothetical post-World War II Italy, re-lived today. Those years testified to the positivity and pursuit of happiness and well-being that was conveyed in most of the design objects made at that time. Those were the years in which, in addition to the typically Italian design, American influences were strongly felt. Jukeboxes, chrome cars, and the jet age were also present in Italy, although reinterpreted with typical Italian taste.

PP: Compared to your collaborations with Bulgari, in this watch your tattoo artist vein seems less evident, are there elements that are implicitly taken from that sphere?

MC: In the case of the Labormatic, the stroke, the shade, and the sign, are perhaps not recognisable, but tattooing has taught me to respect lines, proportions, negative and positive spaces, volumes, and so I owe to my career as a tattoo artist all the graphic skills that were necessary to design, as in this case, a watch from scratch including the case, dial, buckle, various accessories and not least the communication and branding.

PP: How did the concept of dolce vita influence your creative process in this project?

MC: The all-Italian DNA of the brand, which comes from the most industrialised city in Italy, provided the first inspiration for designing the watch. The rest was inspired by a period in history when dreaming was not forbidden. Hence, the concept of dolce vita had to be part of the imagery that provided the inspiration for designing the Labormatic Cinquanta. An abstract concept perhaps, but one that is very much present in our daily lives and of which we are, in different ways, ambassadors in the world.

PP: Design and art often intertwine with culture. Are there Italian cultural elements that have found their way into the project?

MC: The elements present are rock and roll and jazz, reinterpreted by Italian artists as a cultural movement, passing through jukeboxes, motorbikes, and American cars of that era that had a special influence on Italian society. Italy, for its part, provided all the elegance and sophistication of the great 1960s, and all its performers both in the world of music and in the world of the arts, cinema and entertainment. All this served as a reference for designing a watch that would fit perfectly into those years.

PP: What does the Cinquanta represent for you, and how do you think its design reflects the message of The Right Choices?

MC: The effects used, the voiceover, the soundtrack, and the text were chosen specifically for the semi-oniric representation of the concept that inspired the creation of the Labormatic Cinquanta. It can therefore be said that it is the short film that gives voice to that message that can be discerned in the watch in the lines and colours that inspired it.

PP: In what way do you think the watch (and the short film) can help promote dolce vita?

Alessandro Ristori: To expect that a short film can disseminate the concept of the dolce vita in the world is perhaps a bit pretentious, while instead, one hopes to contribute to beauty, a contribution to elegance, a contribution to taste so that people will understand that every day they have to live with these canons of beauty, elegance and taste.

PP: The Right Choices is undoubtedly a homage to the dolce vita. Besides your music, how do you define this concept?

AR: Dolce vita has to be understood as the concept of sweet life in that you have to be able to feel good every day, obviously according to your possibilities. This is the true concept of dolce vita – treating yourself to something positive every day.

PP: Is there a particular moment or anecdote related to this collaboration that has stands out in your memory?

AR: I still believe that the best collaborations are born at the dinner table and in friendship, therefore, I remember a beautiful lunch we had this summer in Forte dei Marmi, eating a triple portion of spaghetti with clams, drinking well and also in the right quantity to sanctify the moment.

PP: Do you think that the dolce vita still has a strong meaning in today’s world?

AR: The concept will never fade, and the proof lies in the fact that many projects related to food and beverage, entertainment, wellness, cinema, music and even fashion are still inspired by a short but important historical period as one of the best photographs of the 20th century.

PP: You have often been described as the Italian Elvis, he certainly had a revolutionary taste, even in watches, what do you think he would say about the Labormatic Cinquanta?

AR: Elvis Presley remains the perfect being on stage; an icon. He would be amazed by this watch I think, because it’s a combination of stylistic Italianism and that 1950s American modernity.