If we don’t know the object of our desire, we cannot seek it. To get to know the duvet and appreciate its properties, let’s discover its secrets together, focusing primarily on the characteristics of the filling material and its infinite qualities, starting with its lightness.

Down and feathers: origin and processing

Feathers are for birds their clothing, the coat that allows them to move and survive in all conditions. They protect from cold and water, cuddle the little ones from birth and are capable of flying high, so high as to graze the rays of the sun, caressing the clouds before returning, more beautiful and stronger than before. Down and feather fillings: what’s the difference? The feather consists of a central shaft (rachis) from which numerous filaments (barbs) originate, interwoven to form the vane. The rachis is in turn divided into two portions: the quill, directly embedded in the skin, and the shaft of the rachis, from which the barbs originate. Down differs from feathers, even from the smallest ones (so-called small feathers), because it has no rachis or vane. It has the shape of a true cluster, consisting of a central core (barely sketched quill) from which the barbs originate. It grows under the neck, under the wings and on the chest of waterfowl. It is not present in land birds (chickens, turkeys). Characteristics of feathers “Light as a feather”: a reference parameter that has now entered common language and is not just a figure of speech. One of the most important characteristics of feathers is indeed their extreme lightness: for 1 g. of down, 300 to 600 clusters are needed, depending on size. A down cluster weighs 2/3 mg.: therefore about 1,000,000 clusters are needed to have 1 kg. of down. An exceptionally fine, light and effective product, which nature gives us as a gift. The weight of feathers, compared to that of down, is slightly higher, but only by a few dozen milligrams.