The onset of activity of the Pisan branch of this renowned French glass factory dates to 1889. Born with the name of "Fabbrica pisana di specchi e lastre colate di vetro", it owed its fortune to two principal factors: the on-site availability of the raw materials necessary (siliceous sands), and the presence of an efficient system of connections which included, in addition to a good road network, the railway connecting Florence to the port of Livorno via Empoli, Pontedera and Pisa. Already in the van at the time of its formation, with a production of some 2000 tons per year of unworked glass and sheet glass, it received a strong boost after World War II, and is presently one of the largest companies in the industrial sector of working and transforming the material.