After twenty years leading Gagà Milano, Ruben Tomella teamed up with his friend, the designer Mo Coppoletta, to make watches drawn in London and built in Switzerland.
How it began
Gagà Laboratorio began in 2020. Ruben Tomella, who still owns the Gagà Milano brand, decided to draw on Manufacture Gagà SA, the Swiss company that has designed and produced watches for Gagà Milano since 2012.
He was joined by his friend Mo Coppoletta, an artist and designer, who became the brand’s Art Director. Their aim was to capture beauty in its purest form, through Italian design and Swiss precision.
Tomella, the founder, describes the turn. “Since I am a true lover of ‘beauty’ in all its forms, I decided to embark on a new adventure: creating timepieces that would captivate collectors from a design perspective.”
Between London and Lugano
Each watch is conceived, engineered and made between two cities. London is Coppoletta’s creative hub, where a design goes from a sketch on paper to a 2D rendering. In the Lugano office it takes physical form, from the 3D model to the final prototype.
Research, development and production all stay on Swiss soil, with partners in Ticino. The brand works with Swiss suppliers on every phase, from the first quality checks through assembly to the final inspection.
The first watch, presented in 2024, explains the name. Labor is the work of the artist, and matic the mechanics at its heart. The laboratory is both the artist’s studio and the mechanic’s workshop.
The watches
The Labormatic draws on the lines and moods of post-war Italian design. Its round case is built from seven parts, and the crown sits at 12 o’clock for symmetry. The hour is shown digitally, while the minutes and a central seconds disc stay analogue. Inside is an automatic La Joux-Perret calibre with up to 68 hours of power reserve.
The first two styles took different decades as their cue. Cinquanta, in pastel hues, looks to the Fifties: the Italian economic boom, chromed American space cars and jukeboxes. Bauhaus follows the 1920s German movement, in shades of grey with radial minute markers.
Later editions widened the range. Luce, limited to 100 pieces, was made for Revolution and its founder, Wei Koh, with lapis for the minute and seconds discs. Superleggero, also 100 pieces, has a Grade 5 titanium case and laser-engraved sapphire sectors on the dial. Aqualab, the diver’s watch, uses a second crown to turn its internal dive bezel.
The house today
Manufacture Gagà SA, a joint-stock company registered in Lugano, runs the brand. From the Lugano office, a team works with partners around the world. The brand places itself among independent luxury watchmakers.
The Cinquanta also led to a short film, Le Scelte Giuste (The Right Choices), written by Coppoletta with Alessandro Ristori, whose music recalls Italy’s boom years. For Coppoletta, the Superleggero is a tribute to an idea: an imaginary world where beauty is engineered and lightness becomes an art.
At a glance
- Founded: 2020 (first watch, the Labormatic, presented in 2024)
- Founders: Ruben Tomella, with Mo Coppoletta as Art Director
- Based in: Lugano, Switzerland, with design in London
- Known for: The Labormatic: digital hour, crown at 12 o’clock, post-war Italian lines
- Independent: Yes, by its own account; run by Manufacture Gagà SA, Lugano
Sources: Gagà Laboratorio’s own website (home page, Story, People and Vision, The Timepieces, the Cinquanta, Bauhaus, Luce, Superleggero and Aqualab pages, Alessandro Ristori x Cinquanta, Terms and Conditions).