Venetian glass Beads and Murano Glass Beads

Featuring handmade lampwork Murano Glass beads.  24kt gold foil and .925 sterling silver, millefior and exclusive designs. The quality of the Venetian beads begins with the Moretti Glass canes but the magic of the bead makers of Venice and Murano with their skill and eye for design make their Murano Glass Beads desired throughout the world.

Chevron Beads

This is the most famous of the Venetian beads. It is made from a hollow cane composed of six layers of glass (white, blue, white, red, white, blue), which are shaped to present five concentric twelve pointed stars when sectioned. The canes are cut into small cylinders which are then polished by hand using a wet abrasive wheel. This is how the bead takes on the oval form revealing its inner pattern.

Millefiori Beads

One of the more decorative Venetian beads is the millefiori, which means a thousand flowers. The bead begins with a layer of glass and is then covered with murrain, which are slices from a millefiori rod. A flame then softens the murrine and they join together. The bead is then molded into the desired form and polished to obtain perfectly shiny beads.

Furnace Glass

Furnace glass uses large decorated canes built up out of smaller canes, encased in clear glass and then extruded to form the beads with liner and twisting stripe patterns. No air is blown into the glass. These beads require a large scale glass furnace and annealing kiln for manufacture

Fiorato Beads

This is a glass bead with flower decorations. After a ball of glass is formed in the desired color, a central strip and tiny ‘threads’ of glass aventurina are added to the bead. Decoration of this flower bead continues with ‘threads’ and spots of both aventurina and other colors. Finally to complete the bead, the bead maker uses ‘threads’ of white and pink to make small roses.

Blown Glass Beads

Blown glass beads are very fragile, but extremely spectacular the glassmaker gathers a small piece of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe and gently inflates it to the desired size. Other colors or fine lines of gold may be laid across the surface of the bead and twisted to create swirls. Finally each bead is carefully pierced to create a hole for stringing.  

Sommerso Beads

The sommerso bead is captivating as it contains gold or silver leaf in its middle. Sommerso, meaning colors within layers of glass, begins with a small piece of glass wound around the copper wire. Next the gold or silver leaf is applied to the hot glass and completely covered with another layer of transparent glass. The bead is then shaped and the layers of glass and foil produce a beautifully striking bead.