As human beings, what we do is tell stories: we always have, and always will, whether around a fire or at a table, to people we don’t know or to those we hold dear. Sometimes these are written stories, like this letter, and other times they are told aloud. There are also stories that are not told to the ears or eyes, but to the hands: a smooth surface, a warm material, a piece of wood that becomes a building, a panel, or a piece of furniture.

For this year’s holiday season, we decided to create a book that is not just a single story, but a collection of stories. We gathered and photographed some of the objects that tell the story of our world—objects that help us shape it every day, molding, building, and creating it, always with the care and expertise that have distinguished the history of Veragouth and Xilema for almost a century. Once again, we are talking about stories: our story, the story of our families, the story of our more than one hundred employees, the story of our hands.

With these hands, we pass down a story every day, a story made of reliability, experience, passion, and innovation: a tale not written with a pencil, but with a hammer, a nail, pliers, and a tape measure… And we, in our small way, try to remind ourselves each day of the responsibility of having two hands and many fingers to build, smooth, cut, measure, caress, embrace, and even give gifts. All actions that, little by little, save the world.

Happy Holidays, full of stories.
Giacomo Veragouth