More than 70 years of experience
History of mankind is full of lucky findings and discoveries, one of the most famous ones is Alfred Nobel’s discovery of dynamite.
A much less gruesome story is that of how the Gamberini brothers ended up creating a wrong rubber mix, in the late 1950s, creating the first ever floating rubber.
The Gamberini family, at that time, owned a small tire repair shop in the heart of Genova.
Gianni Gamberini, disappointed and annoyed with the result of his experiment, threw a test mix to cool off in a water recipient. To his awe, the rubber piece, went right back to the surface and floated.
Shortly after, the first floating fins were on the market, starting from Genova, where brands not only have made the history of scuba diving – they generated the scuba industry.
The first one to intelligently exploit this discovery was business-keen Cressi, who had great success with this line of products.
The collaboration with these innovators is one of the reasons why the Gamberini’s have specialized in OEM production for rubber products for so long.
Diversifying and flexibility
Since then the Gamberini family has always been working with rubber, plastics and it’s derivates, mastering this category of raw material and continually finding new potential uses and markets.
After the three brothers, came Giorgio’s sons : Guido and Sergio, whom, 30 years later found themselves producing Binda’s historical intuition. Binda – the famous co-owner of famous luxury watch brands. Guido and Sergio produced the first rubber straps for watches, characterized by bright colors and bold patterns, never before imagined – the HIP-HOP watch was born…then the first Swatches.
The watch expertise continued with important clients such as Hublot and Bulgari, with the key addition of Sergio’s son Massimo.
Meanwhile, other business opportunities arised. A big market was found in medical and work safety products. Famous products for NBC military and civil use were created.
Back to the water
Sergio’s personal passion for water and the ocean, combined with the family’s rubber and plastic manufacturing DNA, along with his studies as a chemical engineer, created the ingredients from which the modern history – OCEAN REEF brand – was born.
In 1993, Sergio orchestrated the purchase of an American scuba manufacturing company based in San Diego – Ocean Edge.
Sergio’s intuition was to create a cross over from their gas mask design and expertise, back into the scuba industry, his first Full Face Mask for diving: a technical and innovative product that would guarantee a more comfortable, safe and relaxing uw experience.
From Reef-Marine and Ocean Edge, OCEAN REEF was incorporated. Since the full face mask had the advantage of a free mouth – the subsequent step was to develop the underwater communication market. OCEAN REEF is now one of the leaders in this market.
Underwater research
In the meantime, another revolutionary idea “surfaced”. Italians, as we know, love talking about food.
In 2012, Sergio was on vacation in his beloved Noli, a beautiful medieval town, just 60km from Genova, when, talking with a friend, the idea to grow plants underwater started to shape in his mind. This began an amazing project for underwater greenhouses and is still dropping jaws across the world today.
This is real and it’s name is Nemo’s Garden.
Nowadays the OCEAN REEF brand is committed to make the underwater world more favorable to mankind, by making it’s experiences easier. Our soul rests upon our American and Italian heritage.