State Archives in Venice
authorisation no. 1874 of
29 December 1981

"Before my eyes is a document penned in faded ink nearly five hundred years ago:

“Master Bartolomeo Beretta, of Gardone, has received 296 ducats as payment for 185 blunderbusses sold to the Venice Arsenal…”.

I went searching for this precious artefact because I wanted it to appear in the pages of the first issue of this journal, which is bring published at the same time as the opening of Beretta’s first Italian "Gallery". Almost 500 years have passed between the date of the document, 1526, and these last two events: a tremendous expanse of time filled with roughly a dozen generations, not to mention momentous historical, social, scientific and natural events.

The variables have far outnumbered the constants during these five centuries, but I do not feel at all presumptuous in counting among the small group of constants the company that bears my name, having been brought into this world by my worthy ancestor Bartolomeo.

Today Beretta, whose chief merit is that it stays in step with the times without ever losing sight of the principle of quality, is beginning to write a new chapter in its history, expanding its “Gallery” establishments – which are sites for meeting people, as well as showcases for elegant, practical, technologically advanced products - into Italy while bringing out the publication "Excellence", whose primary goal is illustrate and highlight our company’s three guiding concepts: an unchanging focus on style, respect for the environment and a love of adventure; the constant balance between tradition and modernity; the respect we show in equal amounts for our employees and our customers, who, for five centuries now, have been the central figures of our operations."

Ugo Gussalli Beretta