ABOUT VENETIAN GLASS JEWELRY
I love Venetian glass jewelry - the colors, the shapes! Each bead is handcrafted in a centuries-old tradition. Very beautiful!
Venetian glass is a glassware made in Venice, Italy - primarily on the island of Murano, from around the 13th century. By the 16th century, the glassmakers had mastered the techniques of adding color and of removing the smoky tint produced by metal in the glass material. The glassmakers were well respected and allowed to live an affluent lifestyle, but were not allowed to leave in order to preserve the secrets of their glassmaking techniques.
TYPES OF VENETIAN GLASS
ARGENTO: Beads made with silver foil under a layer of clear or transparent colored glass, sometimes with a mix of transparent colors
AVENTURINA: Glass with threads of copper
CALCEDONIO: Glass which imitates agate stones. Marbled with brown, blue, green and yellow swirls created by large amounts of silver nitrate in the glass. First made in Venice in the 15th century, rarely made today.
CORNALINE D'ALEPPO: White heart beads. Compound beads with two layers, usually translucent red over opaque white, yellow, green or pink. Created to imitate carnelian and coral.
CRISTALLO: Glass that resembles rock crystal. Created in Venice in the 14th century.
END OF THE DAY BEADS: Made using the scraps of glass rods and canes believed to have been swept off the floor at the end of the work day.
FIORATO: Glass with flower decorations. We call these beads "wedding cake beads"
LATTIMO: Milk glass
MILLEFIORI: "Thousand Flower". Multicolored glass
ORO: Beads made with gold leaf under a layer of clear or transparent covered glass
SMALTO: Enameled glass
SOMMERSO: Colored threads or designs submerged in a layer of transparent or colored glass for a layered effect