Beads by Mail Venetian Glass Beads and Pendants
Beads from Venice Represent Highest Levels of Skill & Art
Venetian beads are the modern embodiments of the oldest bead art in Europe.
During the Middle Ages the glass makers were settled on an island--Murano--because of fire hazard from their furnaces.On a recent visit to Venice I sailed to Murano, about a half our ride in a waterbus. Murano is very small and bereft of most amenities such as trattoria (cafe), hotel or even the usual tourist junk sellers. It's also very quiet there. I met with my current bead factory and was not ecstatic about the styles or the prices, since the dollar is only worth about 80 cents to the Euro which means a Euro costs $1.20 and does not buy anything at least not in Italy! (foo). (2005)
People on Murano are just focused on their glass making, which is a huge dollar business for them, and they don't want to use up their time & talents making beads. The big dollar sellers are huge wonderful vases, statues, sculptures, fountains, chandeliers, life size glass animals, etc.
If a glassmaker has some free time they might decide to create a few beads, but these will be sold to the first person to see them, probably a bead store owner in Venice who is their direct buyer of all the beads they produce. I did find a few other open factories interested in selling beads but the quality & styling were ho-hum.
So I went back to Venice, scoured all the neighborhoods & streets and found a wonderful bead seller who has the most high quality glass beads I have ever seen in fabulous styles that will surely become your treasured and favorite jewelry.
If you love beads go to Venice. You will never see so many gorgeous beads in one place anywhere else! Most are already styled into finished jewelry so it is a source of design inspiration indeed.
Glittering, Dramatic Window Displays in Venice!
Hand Made Beads Direct From Venice
We are one of the few USA sources for these exquisite beads. We receive them straight from the glass artists' hands in Venice, Italy. Each one is a collectible treasure and will become more valuable. Meanwhile you can wear your beads and enjoy them every day! (Older Venetian millefiore and other beads, if available, sell for many multiples of their original prices, some sell for hundreds of dollars.) Each bead is made by hand using the old, closely guarded Venetian techniques.
Glittering, Dramatic Window Displays in Venice
Designs with Venetian Beads
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| Left, the beautiful pastel millefiore with rose quartz. The centerpiece pendant is a rose quartz butterfly, sold on our gemstone page. |
| Right, a bracelet idea with the silver foil beads and the German lavender/blue vintage beads. Silver ornate beads as accents. |
Jewelry With Venetian Millefiore (mee-fee-oh-ray) Beads
Two bracelets, in the photo left, show how beautifully the beads combine with eachother
and with sterling spacers. The left bracelet is made with inlaid blue/forget-me-not beads and groups of
colorful discs. The bracelet on the right has the millefiore oval beads alternating with
chevrons.
Right is a necklace idea for combining millefiore with turquoise.