Danilo Petta is an internationally recognized, award-winning Italian architect, inventor, luxury industrial designer, and project manager. He is the designer of the iconic Bvlgari Serpenti and the celebrated Astronomia Sky, Astronomia Solar, and Astronomia Table-Clock for Jacob & Co., among other high-end, complex timepieces. He is also the Founding Partner and Chief Design Officer of MASK Architects, an innovative multidisciplinary design firm based in Italy.
In 2020–2021, Danilo was named one of the Europe 40 Under 40® Award Winners by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design—a prestigious honor recognizing the most promising emerging architects and designers shaping the future of Europe. His selection among just 40 architects and designers across the continent highlights his exceptional creativity, leadership, and influence on contemporary design. He is fluent in French, Italian, and English. Danilo studied Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan and Interior Design at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Milan. Throughout his career, he has held prominent positions that reflect his deep expertise in luxury design, architecture, and product development. He began his career in 2010 at Bvlgari Roma as a watch designer. As a young talent, he created the Serpenti Tubogas—one of the most impactful and enduring designs in the luxury watch industry. This groundbreaking work helped solidify Bvlgari’s status as a global luxury icon. Following Bvlgari, he advanced his career at Omega Switzerland, where he served as Senior Product Manager from 2010 to 2015. At Omega, he led the development of the DeVille product collection and Central Tourbillons, significantly enhancing the brand’s prestige. While based in Switzerland, Danilo also achieved professional fluency in French and expanded his technical and managerial skills at an international level over four years.
After his time at Omega, he began designing Swiss high-end complicated timepieces, working between Italy and Neuchâtel, Switzerland—one of the global centers of horological excellence. His design career has consistently drawn significant attention in the luxury world, from the iconic Bvlgari Serpenti to the revolutionary Astronomia Sky for Jacob & Co. These masterpieces are regarded as symbols of innovation, precision, and sophistication in high-end horology, with some retailing at over €500,000. He went on to establish his own brand and studio, DPP Atelier, in Switzerland. Through this platform, he developed exceptional works for Jacob & Co., including the Astronomia Sky, Astronomia Solar, and Astronomia Table-Clock. His role was central in shaping Jacob & Co.’s distinctive brand identity through his visionary approach to mechanical movement design, engineering, and aesthetic innovation. His unique blend of technical precision and creative genius helped create some of the most iconic and best-selling pieces in the modern watch industry.
From 2022 to 2025, Danilo also designed a distinguished collection of timepieces for Parmigiani Fleurier, on behalf of MASK Architects. Among his standout creations is the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor for Ladies, a masterpiece of elegance and technical refinement. Featuring a newly developed in-house automatic movement in subtly smaller dimensions, the Tonda PF Automatic 36mm was conceived as a refined solution for thinner wrists. In line with Parmigiani Fleurier’s design philosophy, Danilo’s creation integrates the 18-carat rose gold case and bracelet seamlessly, features a finely knurled bezel, and showcases a minimalist guilloché dial set with invisible baguette-cut diamond indexes. The timepiece exemplifies austere sobriety and discreet luxury. This design was honored with the prestigious Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, widely considered the “Nobel Prize” of the watchmaking industry, marking a milestone in his haute horlogerie career.
In addition to the Micro-Rotor, Danilo also led the design and development of several other exceptional pieces in Parmigiani Fleurier’s lineup from 2022 to 2024, including the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph Ultra-Cermet, the Toric Quantième Perpétuel, and a new generation of calibers, mechanical movements, and product concepts. His involvement covered not only visual and functional design but also mechanical invention and strategic collection development. This highly collaborative effort with the Parmigiani Fleurier team in Switzerland spanned approximately a year and a half, contributing significantly to the brand’s ongoing innovation and renewed visibility in the high-end market.
Danilo’s strengths go far beyond conventional design. He is known for guiding clients through visionary and strategic creative processes, combining masterpiece aesthetics, timeless elegance, and iconic design language with breakthrough innovations. As a true inventor in the horology field, he doesn’t just design watches—he engineers movements and calibers as visible, aesthetic components, integrating them into the very soul of each timepiece. His work goes beyond fashion; it is deeply rooted in mechanical sophistication, luxury craftsmanship, and enduring design value. Unlike many in the industry, Danilo's approach fuses artistic intuition with technical ingenuity, creating horological works that transcend trends and define new standards. As one of the very few designers in the world who master both the external and internal dimensions of watchmaking, Danilo is consistently sought after as a rare talent in the high-end watch industry.
In addition to these accomplishments, Danilo represented Italy at Italian Design Days (IDD) 2021/22, where he was honored as one of the ‘100 Design Ambassadors,’ showcasing Italian creativity on the global stage. His works were proudly exhibited at the Italian Republic Embassy in Mexico.