Thalía’s Fabbri Shotgun

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But at the private Pawling Mountain Club, a shooting estate in upstate New York, Thalía, the one-named Mexican-born pop singer, is mellow, waiting as her husband unzips a nondescript gun case. What emerges is a smoothly rounded, perfectly machined shotgun built by an Italian master, Tullio Fabbri. The marbled walnut of the stock, polished to a high shine, catches the light, while the eye focuses immediately on the intricate etchings around the action.

This 20-gauge is formfitting in another way: Fabbri meets with each client and takes measurements of their arms, wingspan and reach. With a dummy gun, he watches the buyer shoulder the firearm multiple times from various angles. When the product is finished, each gun perfectly fits the unique build of the shooter. The designs are alive, Fabbri says, and meant to become an extension of the arms. This meticulous detail is why the 49-year old is regarded as an artist as much as a gunmaker. And also why his prices start at $125,000 per gun.

Pawling is a respite from celebrity, and shooting sporting clays is Thalía’s modus operandi for relaxing. “Shooting is a great escape for us,” the singer says. Almost weekly she’ll dust a few clay pigeons with friends.

Thalía grew up as an expert handgun markswoman in Mexico City, but when she met her husband, the music kingmaker Tommy Mottola, he introduced her to shotgun sports including skeet. “I love the whole experience,” Thalía says. That includes the fashion as much as the weaponry. As an accoutrement, Thalía dons traditional shooting clothes from European labels such as Beretta Thalía’s custommade shotgun is significantly lighter and easier to handle due to Fabbri’s high-tech process.

Fabbri has become a top pick for Steven Spielberg, Eric Clapton and King Juan Carlos of Spain. The operation was started in 1965 by Fabbri’s father, Ivo, in a small shop in the Valle Trompia—a legendary valley in northern Italy that has been home to gunmakers since the 16th century. The shop’s output is only 30 guns per year. (The wait list is approaching five years.) Italian artisans known only by single names spend 400 to 600 hours etching the metalwork on the guns, which can add $50,000 or more to the price. “Tullio’s work is as good as a Picasso,” Mottola says.