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Malalan: Seven Decades of Excellence

When, in 1930s Trieste, Anton Malalan learned the trade of the watchmaker, he primarily wanted to gain the knowledge about his profession. He was to live through some turbulent years of war and when the situation finally calmed down, he and his wife emptied the barn in his home town of Opicina and made it into a workshop for repairing watches.
The repairs of various timepieces started the writing of a chapter of watchmaking excellence which is the first in the seventy-year-long tradition of the Malalan family.

First Decade, First Move

The barn which instead of a cow housed a small workshop was soon no longer sufficient for the increasing demand, therefore in the 1950s the couple moved to nearby street Proseška ulica. In addition to better service, the new facility enabled them to start selling jewellery and mechanical timepieces, which soon became an important part of their trade.


Second Decade, Young Watchmaking Help

The increasing need for quality maintenance of mechanical timepieces was one of the reasons why their oldest son Darko discovered his interest in the watchmaking trade. His years of training at the Swiss school in the town of Le Locle made him the best skilled watchmaker in the Triestine region and the Malalan workshop became the official maintenance shop for various Swiss manufacturers of mechanical timepieces. There was plenty of work and they devoted more and more attention to the selling of jewellery.

There was plenty of work and they devoted more and more attention to the selling of jewellery.
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The Malalan Family, circa 1980
The youngest son, Peter, finished his studies in goldsmithing in Piemonte and occasionally took care of the purchasing and delivery of spare parts to the home company. The story of Anton and Angelca started gaining the dimensions of a family company.

Third Decade, Crisis of Classical Watchmaking

When the first battery-driven movements were introduced, the company included the maintenance of these into their operation and while the wheels of the Swiss watchmaking industry almost stopped, the interest for the quality maintenance of mechanical timepieces, surprisingly, remained the same. The youngest son, Peter, finished his studies in goldsmithing in Piemonte and occasionally took care of the purchasing and delivery of spare parts to the home company. The story of Anton and Angelca started gaining the dimensions of a family company.


Fourth Decade, Optician’s Shop

The precise work of a watchmaking master also drew into the workshop those townsmen who needed help repairing their glasses: since the workshop had small enough screwdrivers for basic repairs, they were happy to help. This potential was recognised by the third son Milko, who went to Vinci to study to be an optician and opened his own store in Opicina in the 1980s which until this day remains one of the best in the Triestine region. Draguljarna Malalan moved to new premises near the tram station.

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Malalan at Villa Opicina
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Anton Malalan

Fifth Decade, Expansion to Ljubljana

The 1990s were marked by the Malalan family with the opening of a small shop in Ljubljana, which served as a display window for the store in Opicina. The development was under the care of Peter Malalan, they performed smaller watch repairs, while more demanding interventions were carried out in the workshop back in Italy. A few years later, the first watchmaker was employed in Ljubljana and the workshop was located in independent premises in the centre of the capital. Since they added brands of higher price range to their business portfolio, the workshop in Ljubljana also started acquiring the title of the official service store for renowned watchmaking names.


Sixth Decade, New Step in the Watchmaking Workshop

The turn of the millennium turned out to be extremely important since the story of the Malalan family was joined by the leading name in Swiss watchmaking, Rolex. One of the conditions for this partnership was the acquisition of appropriately equipped premises for the repair office and at least one excellently trained watchmaker. Draguljarna Malalan moved to the present location and vastly expanded its premises.

The turn of the millennium turned out to be extremely important since the story of the Malalan family was joined by the leading name in Swiss watchmaking, Rolex.
Ljubljana
The small watchmaking workshop in Ljubljana developed into one of the best equipped watchmaking laboratories in Europe, where four highly trained watchmakers are in charge of mechanical timepieces today
Zagreb
They are joined by the workshop in Zagreb, where quality services are provided by Jure Malalan, the certified repairman for Rolex timepieces. 
Watchmaking
The watchmaking team is proud to announce that today they are the official repair store for Rolex, Tudor, Bvlgari, Breitling, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Cartier, Zenith, Chanel, Tag Heuer, Baume & Mercier and Maurice Lacroix.
70 Years of Malalan
The repairs of various timepieces still write a story of watchmaking excellence which was the first in the seventy-year-long tradition of the Malalan family.

New Decades, New Challenges

The next chapter is entered into by the Malalan family with a refreshed band which ensures the continuation of the highest level of quality of the watch repair service, manufacturing and maintenance of jewellery, and counselling in the choice of wristwatches or jewellery. With the new watchmaking and jewellery partnerships and our own timeless collections we ensure that your dreams are mint into eternity.


We Forge Your Dreams Into Eternity.
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Tjaša, Peter and Jure Malalan
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Malalan Gaea Pendant by Tjaša Malalan