In the Italian states, individual artisans or families of scientific instrument makers flourished. Their products were as good as those of foreign make, and in many cases were superior for the precision and the refined workmanship of their artistic details. Astronomical instruments, especially those designed to measure time, held a special place in the Italian production. In 16th-century Tuscany, Giovanni Battista Giusti, Stefano Buonsignori (died 1589) and the Della Volpaia family were foremost in this field.