Home/The Craft

The Atelier · Milano

Forty-one hours.
One paddle.

Every PRESTAZIONE is built over five working days — not because we cannot go faster, but because we cannot go faster without losing what we are building.

7 stages 47 inspection points 4 master craftsmen 1 paddle per maker per day

Our atelier sits above a courtyard in Milano's Isola quarter, two tram stops north of the Cimitero Monumentale. On a good day you can smell the carbon resin from the street. Upstairs, four workbenches face a row of south-facing windows. Each bench produces roughly one paddle in a working day. When all four are finishing, the room sounds like a clock shop — the soft scrape of sanding blocks, the tap of spirit levels, the hiss of an aerosol primer.

What follows is the process, in the order we do it, with the words our craftsmen use for each stage. These are not merely steps. They are the commitments we have made to you, written down.

The Materials

Three elements separate a racket from an heirloom.

— Materiale 01

12K Aluminised Carbon

An aerospace-density twill weave — 12,000 filaments per tow — sourced from a family mill outside Lecco. After weaving, the fabric is pressed between ultra-thin layers of aluminium oxide, giving it both the stiffness required for tournament play and the faintly metallic matte sheen that distinguishes the Prima Serie face.

OriginLecco, IT

Density600 g/m²

Tensile strength4,900 MPa

— Materiale 02

HR3 Black EVA Core

A medium-density ethylene-vinyl-acetate rubber formulated to our specification and cured in a low-temperature oven for 72 hours before the frame is built around it. HR3 rebounds with controlled, not explosive, energy — a forgiving core that rewards the player who thinks one shot ahead.

Density54 Shore A

Cure time72 hours

Memory97% after 10k strikes

— Materiale 03

MSR-3 Sandy Finish

A proprietary matte lamination applied in three coats, sanded between each, and sealed with a food-grade polyurethane. The resulting texture grips the ball with 14% greater friction than a polished face, transforming defensive lobs into offensive spin — and resists polishing for an estimated eight hundred hours of play.

Coats3, hand-applied

Added friction+14%

Durability~800 hours play

The Process

Seven stages. In this order, always.

Taglio · Cutting

Cutting the carbon

The carbon roll arrives in 60-metre bolts. For each paddle we cut twenty-two individual pieces — face, sidewalls, reinforcements — using a laser guide to keep each tolerance within 0.2 mm. The carbon offcuts are returned to the mill.

Duration · 1 hour 45 minutes · Master Giuseppe

Composizione · Layup

Layering the frame

Seven alternating plies of carbon and a single ply of Kevlar are laid by hand into the teardrop mould. The HR3 core is placed between plies four and five. Resin is brushed on, not sprayed, to control density. Misalignment by more than half a degree means we begin again.

Duration · 3 hours · Master Elena

Cottura · Curing

Pressing & heat-curing

The mould is sealed and placed under ten tonnes of pressure inside a programmable autoclave. It rises from ambient to 135 °C over ninety minutes, holds for four hours, and returns. The slow ramp — far slower than most manufacturers — prevents the resin from pooling at the rim.

Duration · 8 hours · Autoclave B

Foratura · Drilling

Piercing the face

Fifty-five holes are drilled through the face on a custom jig that indexes from the brand stamp. Each hole is hand-deburred with a brass pick — we do not use sandpaper, which would round the inner wall and soften the paddle's response.

Duration · 2 hours 30 minutes · Master Tiziana

Finitura · Finishing

Applying the MSR-3

Three coats of the sandy matte finish, sanded between each with 1500-grit paper. The gold motif is screen-printed in a single pass. The serial number and "001 / 888" are applied by hand-held transfer press, then the whole face is sealed. The paddle cures overnight, lying flat, in a room held at 19 °C.

Duration · 6 hours + 12 hours cure · Master Marco

Impugnatura · Grip

Wrapping the handle

A single length of Tuscan saddle leather is cut and skived on a curved beam knife, then wound around the handle at a precise 28-degree angle. The wrap finishes with a hand-sewn cord loop for the lifestyle strap. Every paddle's grip is unique; no two will wear alike.

Duration · 1 hour 30 minutes · Master Elena

Controllo · Inspection

Forty-seven checks

Before it leaves the bench, each paddle is weighed to within 0.5 grams, its balance point measured against a calibrated fulcrum, its surface friction tested against a reference ball, and the serial QR code scanned, encrypted and sealed into the vault. Forty-seven individual checks. If one fails, the paddle does not ship.

Duration · 1 hour · All four masters

Inspection points · zero compromises

We do not test our paddles on a machine. We test them against a 4.5-rated player over three sets and a coffee afterwards. If they return, it ships.

— Giuseppe Falaschi, Founder

The Makers

Four hands, one standard.

Giuseppe Falaschi

Founder & Master

Apprenticed under Milan's last working racket-frame maker from 1996 to 2003. Shapes every carbon cut himself.

29 years at the bench

Elena Marchetti

Composition & Grip

Trained as a luthier in Cremona. Her layup is the reason Prima Serie rings when you tap the rim.

14 years at the bench

Tiziana Rossi

Foratura & Finish

Formerly a watchmaker at a house we cannot name. Her hole-drilling tolerance is measured in microns.

11 years at the bench

Marco Ruffino

MSR-3 & Inspection

Holds the final signature. No paddle leaves the atelier until Marco has weighed it and played with it.

9 years at the bench

See the craft in your hands.

Every Prima Serie paddle carries the signature of the master who finished it.

Reserve Prima Serie