From the American Dream to Löwenstrasse
Our story begins with Felice Fresco, a Sicilian boy who lost his father in the Second World War and arrived in Switzerland as a young man with little more than a few lira. He started out washing dishes, then worked his way up through hospitality from porter to concierge to chef de réception, and later became general manager of a well-known luxury watch shop in Lucerne.
In 1986 he took the leap into self-employment and opened his own small shop at Löwenstrasse 13. Tourists affectionately called him "the Messerli-Mann" back then, his store was the first on Löwenstrasse to specialise in Victorinox pocket knives alongside watches and Swiss souvenirs. Even then, every knife was personalised by hand.
In 1998, Felice and his daughter Claudia founded today's Swiss Corner Fresco GmbH at the same address. The shop is now run in the second generation, and the promise has stayed the same: every piece that leaves our shop should carry a little story from Lucerne out into the world.
Advice in your language, engraving in our atelier
We do our best to advise every customer in their own language, German, English, French, Italian, Spanish or Chinese. What matters to us is that you leave the shop happy, with a piece of Switzerland that genuinely fits you.
From that first "Messerli" shop on Löwenstrasse, a small engraving atelier has grown over the decades. With our four different engraving machines we now personalise pocket knives, wood, leather, metal, glass, even eggshells.
Alongside our long-standing range, we carry the lovely watercolour collection by Wrendale Designs, which our Swiss customers have grown very fond of too.
