Italian, a master seen in retrospect as fine instrument maker (5)
I believe the answer is:
amati
'instrument maker' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'italian a master seen in retrospect' is the wordplay.
'italian' becomes 'it' (abbreviation for Italian).
'master' becomes 'ma' (Master of Arts).
'seen in retrospect' says the letters should be written backwards (retro means 'back' in Latin).
'it'+'a'+'ma'='itama'
'itama' written backwards gives 'AMATI'.
'as fine' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for amati that I've seen before include "Italian family of violin-makers" , "Renowned violin-making family" , "Famous violin maker" , "Famous violin family" , "Craftsman" .)