About us
The history of the Trebino family, from 1824 to today
The Trebino family’s history starts in 1824, leading to their international renown today as master clock and bell makers. Their operations began that year with the construction of the first wooden tower clock that was installed in the city of Genoa. Wrought iron clocks – known as “henhouses” due to their characteristic shape – soon went into production. Shortly after, the clocks were accompanied by the construction of mechanical carillons and bells cast in bronze foundries owned by the company. The construction of tower clocks evolved rapidly with the use of increasingly-modern machinery; from wrought iron clocks, they moved on to horizontal-shaped clocks produced in limited series, later increasing their production with electric-powered, quartz, electronic and more recently, radio-synchronised clocks with DCF77 and GPS controls. The bells were always been handcrafted, with the creation of clay moulds, and founded in a wood oven at a temperature of 1200° C. The first “self-winding” electric-powered clock was manufactured by Mr. Roberto Trebino in 1940 and installed in a skyscraper in Genoa with a dial measuring 21 metres in circumference.
In 1958, Mr. Roberto Trebino was chosen by the Vatican to construct the magnificent clocks of St Peter’s Basilica. In 1960, the first electrification systems for church bells began to be adopted by the various systems in use in Italy. In 1994, Trebino supplied the four Vatican Basilicas (Saint Peter’s, the Papal Archbasilica of Saint John in Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls and Saint Mary Major) with modern bell-electrification systems and tower clocks. In 2000, on the occasion of the Jubilee, came the creation of the grandiose “Bell of Life” that was blessed in the Vatican by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. In 2013 manifactured the bell dedicated to the beatification of the “Cura Brochero,” an Argentine priest blessed by His Holiness, Pope Francis. In 2016 was forged the bell to mark the end of the Jubilee of Mercy that was rung by His Holiness Pope Francis in Saint Peter’s Square.
Today, the Trebino company, as a leader in Italy and around the world, is run by Mr. Roberto Trebino’s sons and grandsons, with the support of around thirty highly-specialised employees.
The company has factories in Uscio, in the province of Genoa, split into four divisions:
Bell Foundries
Metal Carpentry
Bell Electrification and Electronics
Tower Clocks
Our company philosophy
Courtesy and quality are the two keywords of the Trebino company. Courtesy, because paying the utmost attention and respect to the clientèle has always been a fundamental principle of Trebino’s Family, which is represented by its continuous commitment to finding solutions to best meet the needs of the customers.
In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Giorgio Trebino said: «n our family, our parents’ example has always been of the utmost importance. We have been in operation for four generations, tireless in our search for coherence, simplicity and constancy. We don’t just think of the factories as belonging to the owners but as the fruit of the labor of all the people working within them.»
Suppliers to the Vatican State
ROBERTO TREBINO S.n.c.
Headquarters and production facility
Via Cannoni, 7 – 16036 Uscio (GE) Italia (IT)
Tel. +39 0185 919410
Fax +39 0185 919427
trebino@trebino.it
Tower clock museum
Via Cannoni, 5-6 – 16036 Uscio (GE) Italia (IT)
Tel. +39 0185 919410
