Dear Gitano and fellow freedivers and members whom share the same passion for our sport,
I have enjoyed being an occasional reader and follower of some of the dialogue that takes place on deeper blue and it has never been my intention to intervene on this forum. I'm replying in reference to Gitano's e-mail and I want to take some time to clear some misconceptions in your post about Omer in a non critical way. Let me tell you a little of the Omer story as we know it:
My father and I are the distributors of OMER products in America under our independent company, Technosport Inc. Our small venture began with a passion for the sport and the taste for good equipment that began growing up spearfishing in Sardinia where we I'm from.
At the time we began dealing with Omer of Carate Brianza (Officina MEccanica Rezzato-province of Brescia) in May of 1997 there was an ongoing partnership between the founder Valerio Grassi and the Ciceri family. Valerio Grassi's signature was inscribed on many of the co.'s first designs, namely guns.
These two names shared a common interest for the passion for freediving and high caliber spearfishing products, and while Valerio was a real "Master" of innovation and started somewhat of a Renaissance in Italy and much of Europe for his innovations in spearguns, he lacked the business insight that is needed when a company grows from a small artizan production and shifts to larger aims and goals. I'm not afraid to admit that in the early stages of this sudden growth for the company, Valerios' production (Black Master and Master guns of the day) became poor in quality control and not suitable for the growing customer growth it seeked.
At the same time as we began importing the small name brand into the US market, it was so well received by the small fanatical following (it could only be called that in 97') that a new chapter began in equipment dedicated to under water hunters which was viewed as the Paragon standard to be compared to all other equipment makers by the elite of our sport. If this sounds like an exaggeration it felt like it as the sudden growth proved. Valerio's company in Italy however was feeling the strain of this explosive growth experiencing "growing pains", a fairly normal phenomenon for businesses lacking financial capital to keep up with sudden growth.
The Ciceri family intervened and took over bailing Valerio and OMER out and thanks to their business acumen put the company back on it's feet. New exciting projects developed, one particular instance I could make might be C4 which seems to be on topic now, who started to work with Omer and together they developed the first carbon fiber fins for freedivers that Umberto Pelizzari first wore. "Pelo" as he's called in Italy, went to see Valerio one day and Valerio returned with a pair of blank blades from the local carbon fiber bike specialist (C4) for him to try. Thus followed the Rekord 2's carbon fin, the first production carbon fiber fin by Omer made by C4.
An interesting side note is that many other Italian campanies also had their roots in spearfishing but amid environmental concerns and questions arising regarding the ethics of our sport the companies got shaky. Some decided to take the high road and stray away from it as much as possible while Omer kept it's aims the same way then as it does today and is probably the last of the "big" companies with the same commitment toward the spearfishing and freediving sectors of the diving market. The benefits naturally manifest themselves as Omer was able to invest substantial research and Design into the production and realization of equipment suitable for this small sport. Retaining the largest customer network of freedivers and hunters around the world has it's advantages in terms of developing new products and keeping up with changes in its market.
In so far as business terms are concerned Omer is not a large corporation when in terms of business people say "large corporation". It is still a privately owned firm much smaller than competitors like Mares and Cressi. The owners are still the Ciceri brothers, all of whom work in Omer factory and follow the various sides of the Italian firm.
There are many interesting ideas and small artizans who produce nice freediving equipment and spearguns such as C4. Omer simply uses it's resources and experience drawn from collaboration with freedivers all over to keep up with the change of pace of the sport. What in one person's eyes may not be seen as the best product or ideal is so to another diver in another place or another island so it's difficult to make generalities about what product is better objectively.
This excerpt below came from our 1994 catalog. I hope you have found Omer's story interesting and not intrusive and wish you all a successful and safe hunting season:
Mark Laboccetta
Vice President
Technosport Inc.
"Apnea is my life.
It is the silent and solitary flight into the cobalt blue abyss.
The interminable moment on the bottom,
in anticipation of magical encounters.
It is the exclusive adventure which causes me to rediscover a part of myself that I thought was lost.
It is the lauch into that hard and loyal foreign world that I, as man, want to discover but cannot challenge.
It is the trust in my equipment that is built and maintained with attention to detail that accompanies me in that otherwise inaccessible world.
Apnea is the test of my strength, courage, my curiosity,
of my respect for nature.
It is an inspiring inspirational discipline of deep values,
for me and all of those like me who live in a dream of an extraordinary dimension...that makes us feel as "Omer Men"
