Marco Mantovani founded Locman in Marina di Campo on the island of Elba in 1986. Elba (the small Tuscan island off Italy's western coast best known for Napoleon's 1814 exile) was an unusual location for a watch manufacture; Locman is in fact the only watch brand based on the island and the only Italian manufacture with this specific island provenance. The brand was founded with a focus on Italian sporty design: large cases, bold Italian-flag colour accents, sport-influenced dials, with the brand identity firmly anchored in modern Italian design language rather than Swiss watchmaking tradition.
Through the late 1980s and 1990s Locman built a substantial commercial presence in the Italian and broader European mid-market through the Italy collection (large 44-48mm cases with sport-influenced dials, often with Italian-flag colour accents on the bezel or sub-dials), the Stealth line (matte-finish black-cased sporty watches), and various chronograph references. Movements are largely Swiss (ETA, Sellita, Valjoux 7750 chronographs) with selected Italian-made quartz references, and the brand has maintained a focus on accessible mid-market pricing rather than competing in the haute-horlogerie tier.
Today Locman operates from its original Marina di Campo facility on Elba with annual production in the tens of thousands of watches. The catalogue spans the Stealth (the most-recognised modern Locman reference, a matte-black sporty watch), Montecristo (named after the Dumas novel, with a more refined dressier execution), Italy (the Italian-flag-accented sporty line), and various special editions for Italian sports teams, motoring brands, and cultural events. The brand maintains its independent Mantovani family ownership and remains the only Italian watch manufacture located on Elba Island.