Home > History
SelÈne history
Selène was founded in 1969 by Severino Riccato, an astute businessman who came from an area of Murano renowned for its craftsmen. Together with close colleagues and associates, he decided to open his own workshop in Marcon, trusting in this age-old art and its intrinsic handicraft skills which, unlike industrial production, fashioned glass with meticulous techniques and time-honoured tradition.
The results were immediately encouraging. By 1973, the Marcon workshop had become a factory with a new production department.
The seventies were marked by a healthy boom in the Italian market. The products had become so sophisticated and demand so great that in 1980 a new, larger factory covering 2,500 square meters was built in Marcon.
In the 1980s, both the quantity and quantity of Selène’s products underwent a major development: increasingly refined products were being produced and pioneering techniques, such as curved glass and the cagework, were introduced. In the meantime, the company was looking to the furnishing industry for inspirational ideas to make new collections and fixtures.
In the 1990s, two factors were to play an important part in the company’s strategy. Its vast range of items meant that foreign markets were vigorously targeted and a more upbeat promotional strategy, which included attending industry fairs, was followed; the more sophisticated products were concentrated on the Italian market, which earned the company a place in the medium-high segment.
