919: Attilio Del Ben, the founder of the cutlery factory which in the future would be named Mercury, was born.
1946: Attilio, who recently came home from the
battle fields of the 2nd World War, alternatively to the work in the
family farms, started the workmanship production of the “stiletto” flick
knife and sporting folding knives, deriving from the ancient experience
matured by Maniago’s handcrafts where the work of iron and the
construction of armoury and agricultural tools had been developing since
the “Venice Republic” domination.
1950: Attilio in co-operation with a partner,
enlarges the old laboratory (initially one little room in the family
house) specializing his production in one of the most difficult
branches: the construction of folding pocket knives and multi-purpose
folding knives. Even if a lot of knives were produced for different
dealers, the products directly sold by Attilio were marked “Delcima” or
“Brillante”.
1960: New wider premises were built and extended in
the next few years to make room for the new equipment and machinery
which was introduced step by step.
1968: Attilio merges all the business and proceeds with the creation of a new trade mark “D.B.A.F. – Maniago”
1968: Franco (the older son) becomes a partner after gaining profound experience in production and its organization as an employee.
1976: Sergio (the second son) becomes partner after he completes his technical studies.
1978: A new distinguishing emblem was introduced (an
“M” inside a shield to symbolize “Maniago” ) which was printed on the
handle of the knives.
1984: The necessity to have a trade mark which would
give personality to the production, became even more fundamental day by
day. For this reason the name Mercury was affiliated to the shield with
the “M” inside, to underline the company philosophy: devotion towards
the future and innovation. Later on, Mercury would become the company
name.
1994: Mercury buys the trade mark “Noxa” together
with all the machinery and equipment for the production of the miniature
folding pocket knives.
1997: Mercury buys the trade mark “Zodiac” together
with all the machinery and equipment for the production of kitchen and
professional knives and cheese cutters.
1998: Mercury builds 1200 sqm new premises located
in the handcraft & industrial area in Maniago in order to have an
adequate space for the new production requirements in the respect of the
safety prevention and a better access to road networks.
1999: After some years of research and experimentation Mercury begins – the first company in Italy –production of titanium blades.
2000: Mercury achieves the “Quality Management
System Certification ISO 9001/2000” a guarantee to its customers of the
persevering control of the production process and services.
2005: Mercury achieves the “QM” (Maniago Quality) certification for the kitchen & professional knives and cheese cutters.
2006: New web site established.