The Cressi Story: 80 Years of Scuba Innovation Through Gear and Family

Some companies arrive after a sport is already established, but Cressi grew up with one. That’s what makes an anniversary like this worth celebrating.

Eighty years after Cressi was formally established in Genoa in 1946, we are still family-owned, still rooted in Liguria, and still building gear for people who want to spend as much time in the water as possible. We are now a third-generation business, run by Antonio and Marco Cressi, and still guided by the same values that shaped the brand from the beginning.

Continuity matters because our history isn’t just a company timeline; it’s the living, breathing story of our gear. A story about the Cressi family. The milestones that define us are not abstract brand moments, they’re made of each piece of gear we’ve ever designed, from masks and fins to regulators and BCDs.

Before Cressi there were two brothers making gear

Our story starts before 1946.

In the late 1930s, Egidio and Giovanni Battista “Nanni” Cressi were making masks and spearguns in a room in their home in Genoa. Egidio had left banking to build a life around the sea, and the brothers’ early workshop produced rudimentary masks made from recycled inner tubes, along with the first Saetta speargun. Our official history traces those beginnings to 1938, then to a craft registration in 1944, and then to the postwar name “Il Pescatore Subacqueo Cressi” (Cressi the Underwater Fisherman) in 1946.

That beginning still explains a lot about who we are. We didn’t start by trying to build a brand image; instead, we wanted to build better equipment for the water directly in front of us. That practical relationship between diving and product design has never really gone away. It still shapes how we think about quality, testing, and the role gear should play underwater.

Our history is written in products

We keep heritage from fading away because our milestones are concrete. In 1947 we introduced the ARO AR47, our first oxygen rebreather, derived from military equipment but improved with a condensate and saliva collector to keep the soda lime from getting damp.

In 1951 came the Rondine fin, which moved the foot pocket into an overlapping relationship with the blade and reduced physical effort for the swimmer. We followed up in 1953 with the Pinocchio mask, giving divers a practical way to pinch their nose for equalization and helping solve mask squeeze at depth. The Pinocchio is still one of the most recognizable products in our history, and it remains in the catalog today.

Those products matter because the problems they addressed were specific. Fatigue. Equalization. Visibility. Comfort. Ease of movement. The pattern of seeing a problem and designing a genuine fix runs through every decade of our history.

In 1965 we introduced the Polaris 4 Professional regulator, valued for its robustness and low maintenance. In 1970 came the Equi-vest, the first jacket integrated with gas cylinders and fed directly from the first stage, containing principles that would later define the modern buoyancy compensator.

In 2000 we launched the Big Eyes mask, still one of our most popular, with inclined lenses that widened the field of vision and gave divers a better downward view of their own equipment.

In 2011 the Leonardo dive computer became the first computer designed in-house by Cressi Elettronica, combining our decompression model with large digital figures, audible alarms, and a simple single-button format.

If you line those products up end-to-end, the through line is clear. We keep returning to the same questions: how do you make diving easier, less tiring, more intuitive, and more comfortable?

Family ownership is not an afterthought

A lot of brands talk about family as part of their image. For us, it is much more practical than that. Our family name is on every product we make, and that has consequences. It affects how seriously we take development, testing, and durability, because the connection between the people making the gear and the people using it is direct.

Family ownership here is not decorative. It is tied to who develops the products, who tests them, and who stands behind them.

That same sense of continuity shows up in how we work. Every product is developed in-house and tested repeatedly in the sea before it goes any further. The waters around the Portofino promontory remain an important part of that process, not just because they are beautiful, but also because they are part of the environment that shaped our culture in the water.

Antonio Cressi has described the steep underwater cliffs around the promontory, the quick drop-offs, and the ability to stay close to shore while still diving to depth. Those are not scenic details for us. They are part of the conditions that formed the way we think about diving and equipment.

"Every product that we put out carries our family name on it. Not just a brand. This is why we care. Because we feel personally responsible towards our customers."—Marco Cressi

Our philosophy is simpler than “innovation”

Innovation is part of our history, and there are genuine firsts across the product timeline. But the philosophy behind that innovation is fairly straightforward.

We have always been interested in reducing what gets between the diver and the experience. “Less is more,” says Marco Cressi. “Less volume, less weight, less mass, less effort.”

Gear should help the dive feel clearer, easier, and more natural, not more complicated. That idea can show up in very different ways depending on the product: a fin that reduces fatigue, a mask that improves vision, a regulator that holds up over time, a BCD that helps maintain equilibrium, or a computer that is easy to read and easy to operate.

Simplicity matters here, but not as an aesthetic. It matters because divers do not want equipment that demands attention for the wrong reasons. Usability matters for the same reason. Durable, reparable gear matters because equipment becomes more personal over time the more a diver trusts it, maintains it, and returns to it dive after dive.

"We want our gear to be simple, functional, and easy to use. We don't want it to distract us when we dive."—Marco Cressi

Respect for the sea is part of the same story

We have a long history in competition and record-setting, especially in freediving, and elite athletes have helped push product development forward. But that does not mean ordinary divers need to chase extremes.

Our history has always included a practical understanding of what most people actually need from diving equipment. The recreational diver is not trying to set a record. They are trying to move safely and comfortably through the water, trust their gear, and enjoy the best parts of the ocean within their own limits. That distinction matters because it keeps product philosophy grounded in use, not image.

It also says something important about how we think about the sea itself. Diving has always involved challenge and exploration, but that does not require treating depth or difficulty as the whole point. Many of the best parts of the underwater world are accessible well within ordinary recreational diving.

"You don't have to dive too deep to enjoy the best part of the ocean."—Marco Cressi

Eighty years later, the story still points underwater

Anniversary celebrations can easily drift into nostalgia. Ours does not. Our history remains relevant because it still has a direct relationship to the gear divers use now. Family ownership is still real and important to us. With our name on every single piece of gear, we must stand firmly behind it.

Testing is still tied to the sea near our headquarters. Product philosophy is still organized around usability, durability, and comfort. The reason we make gear is still straightforward: to improve your experience in the water by focusing on high-quality products we test ourselves.

That’s why this anniversary means something to us. Not just because 80 years is a long time, though it is, but also because we still explain today’s gear in language that traces directly back to where we began.

We started with two brothers making masks and spearguns in Genoa. Now, 80 years later, the family name is still on the products; the sea is still part of the testing process, and the idea remains the same: build gear that is simpler, more durable, less distracting, and better in the water.