First underwater

Genova, Liguria

http://www.cressi.com

Cressi Sub is one of the longeststanding scuba gear factories in the world. It was the Cressi brothers, who were fishing and sea enthusiasts, who invented the first series-manufactured mask, along with numerous other scuba devices and pieces of equipment such as the first closed-circuit breathing apparatus. Cressi Sub is proud of making the bulk of its products in its central headquarters in Genoa. To this day, Antonio Cressi (son and nephew of the company’s founders) is accustomed to test every new product in the nearby bay of Portofino. It is this kind of inventiveness, and the desire to make underwater sea exploration accessible to all, that explains the existence in Genoa of one of the world’s most important scuba gear industries.

Photo Krystal Dorn

Photo Krystal Dorn

Cressi Calibro mask, Made in Italy 2017

↑ Cressi Calibro mask, Made in Italy 2017

Before World War 2, Egidio and Nanni Cressi had already begun to design the first artisanal scuba products. They continued to build a know-how that led them to produce the first industrial product for seeing underwater: a single lens mask called Sirena.

Photo Lluís Masuet

Photo Lluís Masuet

Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins, Made in Italy 2020

↑ Cressi Gara Modular Impulse fins, Made in Italy 2020

↑ “Scuba diving started in Genoa because the city is linked to the Portofino promontory”. An interview with Antonio Cressi.

Egidio Cressi testing scuba gear. Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

↑ Egidio Cressi testing scuba gear. Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

↑ Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

It was with the Rondine fins and the Pinocchio mask, however, that Cressi Sub gained worldwide fame. Fitted with a shaped nose pocket, the mask gave better compensation to free divers.

Advertisements for Cressi Sub company, 1940s (ARO breathing apparatus and Medusa Due mask with built-in respirators). Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

↑ Advertisements for Cressi Sub company, 1940s (ARO breathing apparatus and Medusa Due mask with built-in respirators). Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

↑ Courtesy of Archivio Storico Cressi

Christ of the Abyss, San Fruttuoso Bay near Camogli. Photo: Marcello Pastonesi

↑ Christ of the Abyss, San Fruttuoso Bay near Camogli. Photo: Marcello Pastonesi

CRESSI SUB. Scuba gear. Photo Max Rommel

CRESSI SUB. Scuba gear. Photo Max Rommel