Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** After 82 years, the Rosas jewelry store in Nuoro is closing its doors. In this piece, owner Bastiano Rosas and his daughter Valeria reflect on the family legacy and the end of an era for the historic Corso Garibaldi shop.
The Story
Nuoro, the Rosas jewelry store closes: an 82-year commercial history
by Kety Sanna
Bastiano and his daughter Valeria retrace the history of the family business together
December 21, 2025 20:45
4 MINUTES OF READING
Nuoro
Bastiano Rosas, owner of the historic jewelry store on Corso Garibaldi, has a voice full of emotion as, after 82 years of honorable activity, he bids farewell to Nuoro. With the beginning of 2026, the Barbagia capital will say goodbye to one of its most beloved shops. After eight decades, the jewelry store will lower its shutter forever, taking with it an important piece of this city’s life and a sea of memories from its loyal customers.
Founded in 1943 by Mr. Antonio Rosas, the jewelry store was initially a small shop in the upper part of Corso, at number 20. Over the years, it became a true commercial symbol for the Barbagia capital.
“Dad – recounts Bastiano – started in 1943. He had arrived from Cagliari as a Finance Guard soldier and decided to stay after meeting my mother, who soon became his wife. Following in his father’s footsteps, he decided to open a business in the city. The first shop had two display windows that, in the evening at closing time, were covered with wooden panels. The jewelry store remained there until 1955, then moved to the current shop, in the Palazzo Satta, opposite the Banco di Sardegna.”
Bastiano Rosas, the firstborn of 7 children, represents the third generation of a family of jewelers who practiced the goldsmith trade “when – recalls the merchant – we traveled far and wide across the province with suitcases full of precious items.” The very first Rosas shop, however, was opened in Cagliari by Antonio’s father, Bastiano’s grandfather. It was there that the merchant, after graduating, stayed for a year to learn the secrets of the trade, before returning home in 1967 to follow in his father’s footsteps together with his brother Franco.
“In those years, dad decided to also open a small goldsmith wholesale business on via Gramsci, where alarm clocks and silver spoons were sold, while my brother and I traveled around the island’s centers. My father also had the idea of creating a classic watch, which he named Anro (from Antonio Rosas). Then around ’69/’70, he thought of expanding the business by opening a shop in Olbia. At that time, the Gallura town didn’t seem very promising, but he managed to look beyond. We had found a premises in the city center, and that led to the closure of the Nuoro wholesale business. For a year and a half, I moved to Gallura to start the business. I was later joined by Franco and then by Pinuccio. At that point, I returned to Nuoro and stayed in the shop with dad until the 1980s, when I took over the business.”
For the Rosas family, those were years of hard work and satisfaction, but also of great pain, due to the kidnapping of Pasqualba. A dramatic episode that marked them deeply, even though the relationship with customers always remained warm.
“Then as now, the greatest satisfaction is hearing people say that when they enter the shop, it feels like being at home. Hospitality – emphasizes Bastiano – has been the watchword in all these years of business. A principle I have also passed on to my daughter Valeria, who has been by my side for twenty years. We have always worked with a smile, because our problems are only ours.”
In the early 2000s, the expansion of the commercial zone in the city’s industrial area prompted Bastiano Rosas to open a sales point in Pratosardo as well.
“A not entirely favorable experience – he says – . Perhaps our business risked losing its identity in that context, so we closed and dedicated ourselves completely to the shop on Corso. I have always liked my work, but now the decision, made together, is final. I believe I can say I have lived a good life as a merchant, managing to create, over 60 years, an extraordinary relationship with customers that allowed us to move forward over time. I would like this to be an opportunity to thank all those who have accompanied us on this long adventure. What will I miss? Without a doubt, the relationship with people. Now, however – concludes the merchant – it is right that I can dedicate myself to my grandchildren. I am proud of the work we have carried out until today.”
The news of the closure of the historic jewelry store has sparked a wave of emotion, expressed through messages and words of affection, memories full of nostalgia from customers who, with gratitude, wanted to celebrate the importance the shop had in various moments of their lives.
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