What is Murano Glass?
Murano glass is a traditional handmade glass produced on the island of Murano near Venice in Italy. For centuries the island has been known for its skilled glassmakers, who developed techniques for creating vibrant coloured glass and decorative designs. Today Murano glass remains famous worldwide for its craftsmanship and is widely used in jewellery and decorative objects.
Murano glass - a special history
The island of Murano is located 3km north of Venice in Italy and has been a prosperous commercial port since the 7th Century. Murano became the centre of Venetian glass making in 1291, when glass foundries were moved from Venice to reduce the risk of fires. At that time, Murano glass workers operated at the leading edge of glass technology; for example, they were the only Europeans that knew how to make mirrors!
Consequently, they enjoyed great status and privilege but were not permitted to leave the Venetian lagoon area. Perhaps understandably, the Venetian Republic were very keen to preserve and retain their unique craft, but punishment for deserters was swift and sometimes extremely harsh. The glass workers of Murano are still following their age-old techniques today and although other countries such as China and the Czech Republic try to imitate the exquisite Venetian glass, they tend to be a poor copy. In jewellery, tell-tale signs can be greater weight and less clarity - the vibrancy of Murano glass is unmistakable, appearing to glow from within.
The art of Murano beadmaking
Making the beautiful glass beads for jewellery requires a great deal of skill and expertise. Clear glass is melted, rolled and shaped into the basic bead shape. Then, while the glass is still soft, it is touched repeatedly onto gold or silver leaf until covered. More glass is added to envelop the metal leaf before being formed into the desired finished bead shape; spherical, heart, cube etc. The glass is sometimes clear but more commonly coloured to build up the wonderful vibrancy that is synonymous with the Murano name. The choice of either gold or silver leaf is generally made to compliment the glass colour. Silver is often used with cold colours to produce a truer more intense glass colour, whereas gold can really change the colour used in the glass to achieve some stunning results. Either way the effect is magical and the reason why Murano glass is so popular in jewellery making.
When silver leaf is used within a blue glass bead, the effect is a bright and crisp sparkle.
When gold leaf is used within a green glass bead, the effect is a warm glow appearing to change colour as it moves.
You can explore our Unique Handcrafted Murano Glass Jewellery collection, where we design and create jewellery using beautiful Murano glass beads sourced from Italy.
