Cremone locks first appeared in France during the 18th century. Although a lot of details are missing on its origin, specialists believe the product was imported from the Cremone region in Northern Italy.
At this time two window lock devices were used in homes: the Espagnolette and the Cremone. With increasing urbanisation in the 19th century, Cremone locks became more and more popular in France's large cities.
Nowadays, a lot of Parisian apartments are still equipped with this traditional window lock to protect the building's authenticity.
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| Gearbox with olive knob (white epoxy / polished brass) |
This system is very simple and is composed of three main elements:
- Rods: each Cremone set has two rods, one at the bottom and one at the top. When you turn the knob, they slide up and down on the outside surface of your window or door and lock into sockets that are fixed to the door / window frame or the floor itself.
- Handle: it can be either knob or lever form.
- Cast housing: this cast iron box is where the mechanism is installed. The handle rotation engages a pair of rack gears which then push the rods upward and downward at the same time into the sockets.
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| A full Cremone set showing upper rod section and gearbox |
An heritage product into contemporary projects
This traditional locking system is widely used in France even today. The variety of modern colours and finishes has given this product a second life. Few companies can supply it in the variety of options we have.
The best example is as per above picture, for clients who were looking for a different combination, to match their contemporary interior. We custom-made the Cremone sets with a Satin Nickel finish for both knob and rods.
The result is stunning, giving this piece of art a bright future in contemporary interior design.
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| Brass olive knob / steel box |
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| Pewter lever and box |
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| Nickel satin rods and olive knob / white epoxy box |
