We know how important jewelry is, and today everyone wears it more and more. There are tons of different types of jewelry out there, but in this article we are going to talk about an everlasting and one of the most unique types of jewelry, and that is the glass beads jewelry (Glass beads necklaces and bracelets).
Since the creation of glass thousands of years ago, glass beads have been one of the most wanted jewelry supplies. Today’s glass making is very similar to how it was being made in the past, back then it was being done by “core-forming” and then holding the glass over a flame, shaping it. Today, with the invention of the blowpipe, it’s much easier to create any type of glass we need, such as seed beads and Rosetta, which was originally made in Venice and Murano Italy.
Italy, and specifically Venice, is famous for the creation of Beaded Glass Jewelry, and any other type of glass creations, which are known as Murano glass decorations.
Millefiori, which means “a thousand flowers” is very detailed with many patterns and colors. All of the beads of Millefiori are unique and one of a kind, due to all of them being handmade and formed individually over a torch. They are more specifically being made by slicing a roll of heated glass rods. They are colorful with a combination of different patterns, which makes them stand out from the crowd.
Aside from them, there is also plain Murano glass jewelry available, created with other techniques. There is a natural sea glass, made in the ocean, which is also a source for creation of fine jewelry. The sea glass jewelry is mostly found in clear, amber, and green color, but it can be found in other colors as well.
There are a lot of other techniques for making Murano glass, but before talking about them, let’s talk more about the history and what makes it so unique.
As we said, this type of jewelry originates from Murano, a small city in Veneto, Italy, however it hasn’t been always like that. In the beginning this jewelry was made in Venice, however around the 13th century its creation was changed to Murano, which is few kilometers apart from Venice by boat.
This was done mainly for two reasons, first to stop from any fires from arising in Venice, as most of the houses there are close to each other, and a fire can spread rapidly. And on the other note, to protect the secret of this art-creation techniques. Because at that time all the other countries wanted to start the distribution of their glass jewelry, the glass makers of Venice wanted to protect their work, so that’s why the council of Venice decided to move the glass creation in Murano, where there is no available road, and entrance is only available through water. The artisans were also obliged to notify each time they decide to leave the island, and they had very specific rules for keeping the secret. However, even though they were most of the time in Murano, they were treated like nobility, being given a rest period of 5 months during the summer, when the weather was the hottest. Later, that rest time was cut down to 3 and a half months.
Okay, so besides the exclusivity of its creation, the two other aspects that are making it to be unique, are its colors, which are a result of mixing minerals with the glass, including gold and silver, and the techniques about which we are going to talk next.
One of the most popular Murano glass creation techniques are:
- Avventurina – which is being made by making copper microcrystals that have a translucent yellowish color, which causes golden reflection. For optimal results, this technique requires slow cooling.
- Doublè – this technique consists of golden and silver particles inside the glass decoration. It consists of 3 steps: firstly engraving a decoration on the first layer of transparent glass, then adding the gold and silver, and lastly the final layer of transparent glass.
- Fumato – this is one of the most impressive techniques that gives the impression of smoke trapped inside of the glass. This glass jewelry is being exposed to the smoke of the wooden oven, which creates the effect.
- Alessandrite – what if you can have a jewelry that changes the color in a different lighting, well with Murano glass jewelry created with this technique, you can. The colors vary from warm tones, lavender colors, and even florescent light blue tones.
There are many more technique for creating Murano glass, but its best if you just browse through the catalogs. One thing to make sure is, if you decide to browse of purchase these Murano glass jewelry, to do so through an authentic website that has the Trademark of originality, such as YourMurano.com. Besides jewelry they have a vast collection of Murano glass decorations that you can search through, such as vases, sculptures, glassware, centerpieces, and much more.
