The acronym AMF which for years preceded the name MARES has always remained a bit mysterious in its meaning, identified by the divers only as the logo of the group which the Italian company had been part of since 1971. In fact, the acronym is the contraction of AMMAFOCO - AMERICAN MACHINE & FOUNDRY, a US company with headquarters in Santa Barbara in California and branches scattered throughout the world which already in the 1950s had added diving to its sectors of interest. He acquired the products from the best-known companies, inserting them in his own price lists accompanied by the phrase that can also be read in his 1954 German catalogue:
“Our branded equipment is of the highest quality and reliability
to make diving a real pleasure"
Twenty years later that brand in front of the Mares name disappeared, replaced by the acronym of the new HTM group (Head-Tyrolia-Mares) of which the glorious company founded by Ludovico Mares in 1949 is still a part.
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