Layout 2 - Fausti USA

24:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:08 PM Page 1
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/3/12 5:46 PM Page 1
The Gunmaking Firm of Fausti Stefano
An Interview With The Fausti Sisters
by J. E. Fender
A
s long as Homo sapiens
have existed on this
planet the females of the
species have exercised leadership roles first in the family
and community, and then in
government, first as monarchs
and then beginning in the
mid-twentieth century, as
prime ministers at the heads
of their political parties, and
then as presidents elected in
their own rights. Indira Gandhi,
Golda Meir, and Margaret
Thatcher come readily to mind
as prime ministers respectively
of India, Israel, and the United
Kingdom. Today, to name but
a few, the nations of Australia
(Julia Gillard), Brazil (Dilma
Rousseff), Denmark (Helle
Thorning-Schmidt), Germany
Stefano Fausti, founder, and father to Elena, Barbara and
Giovanna, who have controlled the company’s future since 1990.
(Angela Merkel), and Liberia
(Ellen Johnson Sirleaf) are governed by women chosen strictly
on their merits. Women, again
through merit, have achieved
leading rôles in international
finance (Christine Lagarde,
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund), and the
media (Jill Abramson, Executive
Editor of the New York Times),
and large multinational companies such as Kraft Foods (Irene
Rosenfeld), International Business
Machines (Virginia Rometty),
Archer Daniels Midlan (Patricia
Woertz), and Anglo American
PLC (Cynthia Carroll) once
viewed as professions reserved
exclusively for men.
It should come as no surprise
then that women have moved
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/6/12 4:48 PM Page 2
into the world of fine gunmaking, not just as engravers or
artisan-outworkers, but as managers and leaders. Women in
the firearms industry have lessons for the firearms industry
worldwide, so to learn more about the evolving rôles of
women in fine gunmaking, the Double Gun Journal inter-
manufacturing innovations. During a 2002 visit to the
Fausti factory, I glimpsed Stefano Fausti on the factory
floor which he occasionally visits as a designer laureate, or
engineer emeritus, though he does not intervene in the company management—duties he entrusted to his daughters who
have not disappointed him. Our questions will be directed to Giovanna, the
Chief Executive Officer.
DGJ: What is your rôle as CEO of
Fausti, and what are the titles and
rôles of Barbara and Elena?
Giovanna: My rôle as CEO of Fausti
is not very different to Barbara’s rôle
since we are both very involved in the
worldwide sales and marketing arm.
In my rôle as President of Fausti
USA I follow very closely the North
American market and some European
markets, while Barbara is more involved
in following the East European, new
markets and the domestic market
too. Elena oversees our production
facilities.
DGJ: Are there other siblings? If
there are other Fausti siblings are
they employed within the Fausti
organization?
Giovanna: We are very much a family
business, but there are no other siblings.
DGJ: Managing a family business can
be fraught: Do the three of you agree on
a broad strategy at the outset?
Giovanna: The three of us were
agreed on a broad business strategy
since we assumed control and management responsibilities for Fausti. The
firearms that our father produced in a
small workshop just after the Second
World War were deeply imbued with
the characteristics of Italian firearms
design, and these early firearms soon
became ambassadors of the Italian gunmaking style so well appreciated all
over the world. For the three of us, it
was a very natural thing as Fausti grew
to take the firearms manufactured in
our very small valley [N.B., Giovanna
of course refers to Valle Trompia the
50-kilometer-long valley running
DEA BRITISH SL Theme 1 & Theme 2 (bottom).
from the Valli Massif in the north of
viewed the principals of Fausti Stefano, s.r.l. (Società a Italy to the plain of Brescia through which flows the
Responsabilità Limitata or Limited Liability Company), Mella River—the Trompia Valley is the historic site of
the gunmaker that has been led by women since 1990. the Italian firearms industry] and expand into internaFirst, however, a brief history of Fausti Stefano. Barbara, tional markets. It is true that working as a family business
Elena, and Giovanna are the daughters of Stefano Fausti, can be fraught, but luckily for us this is actually a point of
the man who founded this eponymous company in 1948. strength.
The first firearm Fausti manufactured was a side-by-side DGJ: Do the three of you have clear understandings of your
hammer shotgun. Stefano Fausti retired from company responsibilities regarding day-to-day operations as well as
management in 1990 at the end of 42 years of designing and long-range strategic planning?
26 • The Double Gun Journal
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:11 PM Page 3
Giovanna: After so many years of working closely together those who cherish fine firearms. The launching of the Fausti
the three of us have a clear understanding of our positions Boutique line for example was established to distinguish the
and rôles inside the company with all the responsibilities finer guns from the company’s core products and is a personassociated with Fausti, not only in our daily operations, of al goal that encompasses a female touch in all its aspects, from
course, but also with a long-range strategic plan. Like the the products’ conception and development through the mareditorial staff of a newspaper, every day we have a meeting keting strategies to final sales.
where we organize the daily plan (meeting with our suppli- DGJ: What is the worst aspect of being a woman in the
firearms industry?
ers, customers, our managers) as well
as monitoring current operations.
Sometimes the plan will change during
the working day as there is always
something new or unexpected to face .
. . the long-range strategic plans are
thoroughly discussed before we reach a
conclusion, and of course we often
consult our employees because we
want their involvement and “buy-in”.
We solicit and welcome suggestions
and ideas, no matter if the suggestions
come from our managers, or the most
recently hired employee.
DGJ: You and your sisters have been
managing and directing Fausti for over
20 years; DGJ can think of a number of
firearms companies headed by or whose
senior management includes women in
addition to Fausti:
Daniela Fanzoj of Johann Fanzoj;
Christina Abbiatico of Fabbrica Armi
de Mario Abbiatico e Remo
Salvinelli (FAMARS);
Veronica Gelmini of S.I.A.C.E.;
Moira and Pamela Rizzini of Battista
Rizzini;
Alice Poluchova of CZ-USA.
Can you add to this list?
Giovanna: The list is very complete
but we would like to mention and to
add all those women who daily work
hard for the success of a gun company
like ours. We’re talking about female
engravers, for example, or women who
hand-checker stocks and forends (this
has been a woman’s specialty in Italian
gunmaking for many, many years, with
the artisans’ knowledge passing from
one generation to the next). Many
women are intricately involved in all
facets of the gun industries, their names
are unknown to the world at large, but the LATO SX (top) and two views of the DEA SL “Dedicated to the Woodcock”.
gun industries could not function without
Giovanna: The worst aspect of being a woman in the firearms
them.
DGJ: What is the best aspect of being a woman in the industry is the fact that we are forced to travel a lot, like true
globetrotters sometimes, and this has negative effects on our
firearms industry?
Giovanna: The best aspect of being a woman in this male- families that we overcome with an abundance of energy—
dominated gun world is the one connected with the fantasy energies that propel us into the future.
and creativity that women bring to this specific sector of the DGJ: How have the sovereign debt crisis within the
modern industry. It is a great satisfaction to us when a prod- Eurozone and the economic and political turmoil within Italy
uct that we have studied and developed meets the favor of (i.e., Italy is the world’s seventh largest economy, but the
Summer • 2012 • 27
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:15 PM Page 5
economy has been stagnant and national competitiveness
has declined: Italian public debt stands at 120 percent of
Gross Domestic Product, and the controversial Silvio
Berlusconi has been replaced with the technocrat Mario
Monti) affected the manufacturing, marketing and pricing of Fausti firearms?
Giovanna: Every company in Italy and in Europe has
been involved in the Eurozone crisis. Our national competitiveness has been compromised by a government that
spent precious time in attempts to cover-up scandals, and
engaged in idle gossip without any understanding of the
depth and breadth of the crisis, and the failure to focus
efforts on finding solutions to Italy’s fiscal problems. Past
political failures have brought a new government of
unelected technocrats—we shall have to wait to see what
will happen. Frankly speaking, here at Fausti we began
almost ten years ago to focus less on numbers and volume
of guns produced and concentrated our resources more on
engineering and maintaining the highest level of quality
possible in our firearms line. Here at Fausti we believe
that high-quality products will always find ready buyers,
even in a depressed economy. Obviously, even high quality products will not sell as readily as they would in a robust
economy, but they will still find appreciative buyers.
It has not been easy at all to do this. Other companies
tried to do the same, but they failed. Some quite
respectable gun companies sought to move production
off-shore, to Turkey for example, where labor costs are far less
than in Italy. But the inevitable result is to compromise the
final quality of the product. At Fausti we changed strategies,
utilized more efficient machines, refined our manufacturing
techniques, and increased our already 250 quality-control
checks—all with the final goal of introducing new and attractive models to reach new markets.
Fausti, for example, was the first Italian gunmaker to
believe there was a market for fine guns in Russia—and we
pursued this new market aggressively. In this way we created,
step-by-step, a solid and reliable reputation for quality that is
not connected just to a particular price range, while at the
same time devoting special attention to “bespoke” guns,
especially those engineered with frames appropriately and
proportionately scaled to the gauge of the shotshell. Clearly,
manufacturing, marketing, and pricing firearms in a time of
economic crisis is difficult—but at the same time it is stimulating and creative. At Fausti we simply “think different” as
somebody greater than us once said . . . our new Fausti
Boutique catalogue is the ultimate result of our long years of
research, engineering, and passionate love of hunting and
sporting guns.
DGJ: What is the relationship between Fausti and the gunmaking firm of Emilio Rizzini: Is Fausti manufacturing
firearms that Emilio Rizzini then markets, or is Emilio
Rizzini a separate product line for Fausti?
Giovanna: Thank you for a few lines to explain and close this
The SENATOR
Summer • 2012 • 29
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/6/12 4:48 PM Page 6
aspect of our marketing: In 1999, after the marriage of our sister, Barbara, and Fabio Rizzini, the son of Emilio Rizzini, we
bought the Emilio Rizzini brand. For several years we kept
both Fausti and Emilio Rizzini as separate product lines, but
we early on recognized that our efforts should be concentrated solely on the Fausti line. There are several other Italian
firearms lines produced with some variation of the Rizzini
name, and confusion inevitably resulted. Very simply, Fausti
is unique, and cannot be confused with other marques. Fausti
no longer manufactures Emilio Rizzini firearms.
DGJ: For what other companies does Fausti manufacture
AMBIENTATO ORO
firearms?
Giovanna: We still have a business relationship with
Weatherby for whom we produce some side-by-side and overunder shotguns.
DGJ: Do you view the Fausti shotgun designs as evolving
over time, or as revolutionary in concept?
30 • The Double Gun Journal
Giovanna: Fausti shotgun designs evolved over time so that
we introduced to the gun industry the concept of a neo-classical design. In a Fausti gun, especially in the ones with true
scaled frames, connoisseurs of fine firearms can glimpse the
Age of the Renaissance, but manufactured with new materials
and technologies that could not have been envisioned in the
Renaissance. There are also revolutionary concepts such as
the patented “Four Locks” system for the over and under
shotguns [N.B., the term “Four Locks” refers to an
over/under design wherein two lumps on the underside of
the lower barrel engage recesses in the frame’s floor to lock
the joined barrels and action vertically; two U-shaped cuts on either side of
the lower barrel engage the frame’s
sides to lock the joined barrels and
action horizontally], and the patented
“Anti-Rotating Ejector” system for the
side-by-side shotguns. These concepts
have advanced and distinguished the
modern gun from any of its predecessors, whether from the English trade or
elsewhere on the European Continent.
DGJ: If revolutionary, what are the
technical advances that distinguish the
Fausti line?
Giovanna: Please let me refer your
readers to the reply above.
DGJ: Does Fausti manufacture ALL
components of its shotguns in-house, or
are some components sourced from
other manufacturers?
Giovanna: We produce all Fausti components in-house. Only the barrels are
welded into their mono-blocks to our
strict specifications and quality control
at a specialized factory nearby. All of the
components are assembled by our highly skilled labor force, though we send
out the complete assemblies for specialized processes such as heat-treating, certificating [proofing] and metal bluing.
DGJ: Some Italian gunmakers are
sourcing some of their firearms from
Turkey. Has Fausti any plans to source
firearms from Turkey or another country
such as Brazil or Russia?
Giovanna: No! Fausti is very proud to
make our guns 100 percent in Italy!
This is coherent and consistent with
our philosophy of manufacturing guns
of the highest standards and the
strictest quality-control procedures that
distinguish our guns from other massproduced guns.
DGJ: Reputable media such as the “Financial Times” report
that Italian unit labor costs are very high when compared
with Germany and the Northern European countries in the
Eurozone, with resulting lack of competitiveness and virtually
zero growth in manufacturing over the past ten years. Yet,
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:16 PM Page 7
Fausti has grown in size and
increased sales: you are going from
strength to strength and defying
this national trend—what has
Fausti done that the Agnelli family
[the family dynasty with the largest
holdings on the Italian Stock
Exchange and former owners of
FIAT] is not doing?
Giovanna: Well, what we did and
FIAT is not doing is—the guns! I
am joking, I think it is not correct
to compare a colossus like FIAT,
that’s now doing well in the USA
[N.B., FIAT owns 58.5 per cent
of the American car manufacturer
Chrysler] to a small family business
DEA BRITISH and
DEA BRITISH SL (below).
like ours, but I understand what you mean. Let me tell
your readers that it is very important to continue to develop
and invest in new ideas, especially during a time of economic crisis to offer not just high quality guns, but guns of
dreamlike, ethereal quality that allow the passionate to forget their day-to-day problems. A truly fine gun is far more
than a combination of steel, wood, and technology—it is a
timeless object of the gunmaker’s
art. Like Italians we are appreciated for the designs of our
objects—they may be automobiles
like the Ferrari, or houses, luxury
yachts—Italian shipyards produce
more luxury yachts than any other
country, Italian yachts are very
popular with Russian oligarchs—
or high-fashion dresses . . .
Were Fausti to stop being creative, if we were to follow what the
mass prefers, we would lose a great
portion of our power—our appeal.
The [news] media—correctly—
depicts Italy as having a lot of problems. But we are surrounded by the
beauty of our towns, our architecture—some Italian cities are museums under the open sky. If we do not
forget our roots and heritage, we shall remain a great people.
DGJ: Are you pleased with the reception of Fausti USA as
a custom shop and your location in Fredericksburg, VA?
Giovanna: Yes, we are very pleased with the reception of
Fausti USA. We established Fausti USA in 2009, the better
to serve our existing American clientele, and to reach out to
new clients among the hunters, shooters, and collectors of
Summer • 2012 • 31
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:19 PM Page 9
services, and know they can order with confidence either a gun
crafted to their personal specifications, or find information
they need about the Fausti line, or Fausti retailers in the USA.
As president of Fausti USA, I travel to the USA often to visit
clients or attend special events, and so I stay often at The
Fausti USA meeting our team, suggesting and supporting
them with strategy plans to cover marketing and sales aspects
in order to improve our presence in the USA and make the
Fausti brand stronger day after day. It often happens that
when I am at the Fausti USA facility some dealers or individual clients call, and when they learn that I am in the office they
like to speak directly to me, and they are very pleased about
my availability. Knowing that Fausti is a family business is a
great value that people who deal with us truly appreciate.
CLASS SL DE LUXE
your great country. Really, the mission of Fausti USA is to
educate Americans about our fine Fausti shotguns, and let
Americans know of the most recent editions to our growing
product line. The business office, warehouse, service shop,
and a wonderful display room are in Fredericksburg, Virginia,
a location strategically in the middle of your Atlantic Coast
states. Prospective clients are welcome to visit our facility, but
we do ask that they make an appointment in advance.
Thanks to Fausti’s establishing a permanent location in the
USA, clients and prospective clients are more confident than
ever in our brand. They know they can always count on our
This is a vital difference between Fausti and the larger gun
companies that have become so impersonal that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to speak one-on-one with the owners.
My sisters and I enjoy talking with hunters and shooters, in
fact we are passionate in talking directly with our clients since
this helps us create guns that meet their requirements and
expectations. Fausti USA is a major part of our outreach to
American hunters, shooters, and collectors of fine firearms.
DGJ: Who is managing the Fausti USA location?
Giovanna: Fausti USA is managed on a day-to-day basis by
our General Manager, Steve Allen, who has great experience
Summer • 2012 • 33
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:20 PM Page 10
and great passion for hunting and shooting. He is extremely
knowledgeable of our products, and between us as we say in
Italian there is—trait d’union—that is, a good liaison.
DGJ: What are your best selling shotguns in the USA?
BRIXIAN “Battaglie Bresciane”
Giovanna: We are selling lots of different models very well,
but the best sellers among our core products are the CLASS,
an over and under shotgun that is solid, reliable, and has a
strong personality that mirrors and summarizes a century-old
gunmaking philosophy from Italy, and for our side-by-side
shotguns, the DEA, a beautiful, appealingly slim, elegantly
proportioned, and with a truly scaled frame. Concerning the
Fausti Boutique line, the best seller is the DEA SL, which
may be ordered engraved with a client’s favorite quarry:
woodcock, your native bobwhite quail, pheasants, or whatever game animal the client prefers. The essential differences
34 • The Double Gun Journal
between the Fausti Boutique line and its competitors are the
extremely harmonious lines, the flow and balance of shapes,
and the meticulous attention to every detail that converge
into the creation of a Fausti Boutique shotgun.
DGJ: Are you satisfied with Fausti’s
current market niche in the shotgun
manufacturing world?
Giovanna: We are quite satisfied since,
as I have already informed your readers,
at Fausti we are not looking at the numbers produced but at the quality of the
products we offer, so we believe we are
doing well. We are interested in
expanding into the sporting clays discipline; some sporting clays shooters are
doing very well with Fausti shotguns,
but we believe interest in sporting clays
shooting will increase, and we believe
Fausti guns have great potential in this
discipline.
At the upcoming 2012 shows and
venues in the USA we shall introduce
our new Magnificent Sport Edition that
we expect will become the next Fausti
best seller!
We are proud to say that in Italy as
well as other European countries, Fausti
is viewed as one of the few top fine gunmakers. From January 2012, Don Currie,
a very well known and respected shooter and instructor will campaign one of
our side-by-side shotguns in the main
competitions scheduled through the
year. At Fausti we believe this is a very
important testimonial to the inherent
worth of our shotguns.
DGJ: If you are not satisfied, what is
your plan to expand into other markets?
Giovanna: We have told your readers
about the Italian and European markets, and we intend to establish Fausti
as an important brand in the USA market as well. In the past, Fausti guns
were retailed through large chain-store
distributors who were looking only for
entry-level guns. Yes, our guns were
good and reliable, but they were
regarded primarily as standard, entrylevel guns. With the birth of Fausti USA we are definitively
closing the era of “entry-level guns” and going forward.
American clients will acknowledge that our Boutique line
will distinguish every Fausti gun from the mass-produced,
mass-marketed guns.
DGJ: Where do you want Fausti to be five years from now?
Ten years from now?
Giovanna: This is a very hard question. Our goal is to bring
Fausti to the pinnacle of the fine gunmakers’ pantheon. We
do not know right now how many years it will take, but this is
our challenge, it will be our leit motiv for the upcoming years.
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:20 PM Page 11
DGJ: What innovations in design, manufacturing, or marketing of Fausti shotguns and new product offerings can you
share with the readers of the “Double Gun Journal?”
Giovanna: There is a new over and under shotgun that we
shall introduce shortly. The gun will be
named “BRIXIAN LX”, and it will represent a concept very dear to our hearts,
the concept called Futuro Antico, two
Italian words that mean “Antique
Future” or “Old-Fashioned Future.”
The BRIXIAN LX will be an innovation in design and manufacturing as
well as representing a legacy from the
golden age of gunmaking. It is our
belief that only by touching and honoring the past can we create the future.
This is what Fausti is doing with the
BRIXIAN LX, a handmade, bespoke
gun offering a blend of quality and style
that we claim is unbeatable. The BRIXIAN LX will offer the buyer the opportunity to own something truly unique.
It is only by the hand that all a client’s
wishes can be met, that is why the
BRIXIAN LX will be so much more
than a refined, majestic boxlock. It is
the interpretation of a code incomprehensible to most people; it is, rather, a
unique vocabulary treasured and passed
down generation to generation. The
BRIXIAN LX will feature especially
selected wood with ebony or steel
buttplates harking back to the beginning of double shotgun manufacturing.
All metal components will be polished
to the highest possible luster before
being sent to a master engraver. On a
shotgun like the BRIXIAN LX the
client will be able to discuss and confirm every detail with our master gunmakers, from project initiation through
delivery of a stunning work of art that
will surprise even the most passionate
lover of fine guns.
DGJ: What percentage of the engraving of Fausti firearms is done in-house
as opposed to contracted to a firm
such as Bottega Incisioni de Cesare
Giovanelli or commissioned to Creative
Art or individual engravers?
Giovanna: There are at any one time
ten-to-fifteen great master engravers
working on Fausti firearms, though in their own ateliers,
including those you have named. We also have several
engravers on staff to execute monograms, or some special
commemorative occasion or event.
DGJ: What does it mean to you to be a firearms manufacturer?
Giovanna: To me and to my sisters being a firearms maker
means first of all a bit like introducing ourselves, digging down
into our origins and roots and relying on what is our absolutely
personal and exclusive way of being. It’s an inalienable legacy
that originated and was further developed by our father, and a
legacy that we wish to pass on to our children. Today, a Fausti
BRIXIAN LX
gun is one of the most complete as well as the most complicated synthesis of the Italian overarching desire to combine
the construction skills of generations of mechanical designers
and the real gun designing talents into a single piece of steel,
wood, and technology. To be a firearms maker means to
belong to the elite that can make dreams come true for those
who are passionate about our work.
Summer • 2012 • 35
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/6/12 5:46 PM Page 12
DGJ: What advice would you give your
18-year-old self just starting out in the
firearms manufacturing business?
Giovanna: Be courageous, original,
study the past to build your future and
don’t be afraid of the mistakes that you
certainly will do, but take lessons from
them to go further up the road. This is
what my sisters and I did, and it would
be a good starting point.
DGJ: How do you and your sisters
wish to be remembered?
Giovanna: Let me tell you that we are
not old enough to retire and that the
time to be remembered is still long to
come! Seriously talking, we wish to be
remembered as a family that has had the
great luck to do a job so exclusive and
unique. This is both a privilege and a
responsibility. We hope to do this as
best we can, and for doing our best is
how we hope to be remembered.
The MAGNIFICENT4
The Take-Away
The modern manufacturing era
began over 500 years ago in Venice
when the Venetian Arsenal began the
first significant use of standardized
parts production. Standardized parts
make possible the production of the
myriad articles that sustain and
enhance human life, and manufacturing employs approximately 10 percent
of the world’s working population.
Unfortunately, there are cultures,
creeds, and countries, even today,
excluding women from the workforce,
or exploiting them—to their detriment—since one-half of their human
capital is wasted. The Fausti sisters
reflect the ever-increasing understanding of critical thinkers worldwide that
limiting women to stereotypical “traditional” rôles robs their culture, creed,
or country of women’s skills, ingenuity
and creative input, all of which bring
competitive advantages and new business opportunities. All shooters,
hunters and connoisseurs of fine double guns are indebted to Barbara,
Elena, and Giovanna Fausti for manufacturing complicated, functional, and
enduring firearms of exquisite and
transcendent merit.
36 • The Double Gun Journal
26-37_Fender:Layout 2 6/2/12 8:23 PM Page 13
Summer • 2012 • 37