Murano Glass Jewelry and creation of Millefiori Murano Glass

Murano Glass Murano is actually one of several islands just outside of Venice, Italy. In this region, each of these islands focuses in a specialized handcraft; Murano is famous for their art glass making. Culturally rich with history, tradition, ancient techniques and art, Murano glass dates back as early as 982 and is the oldest glassmaking tradition in Europe.

It incorporates its heritage with constant technical and artistic innovation to create beautiful art sculptures, vases, jewelry and more. Murano art glass is only made in Murano. Although, it is very much imitated, there is only one true Murano glass and it is protected by the Marchio del Vetro Artistico di Murano trademark. This trademark signifies that the Murano glass was made by an approved Muranese glassmaker. Millefiori Murano Glass Millefiori is a type of Murano glass that has been incorporated with various layers of colors to create beautiful flower-like patterns. Millefiori, which literally means "a thousand flowers", is the denomination of a type of cylindrical, long glass rod which contains a specific pattern along its entire length, so that when cut into slices from one end, the particular pattern will be revealed.

It is completely handmade of authentic Murano glass. This style of glass has been around since the Middle Ages and more recently, have been produce for fine jewelry. Millefiori owes it particular beauty to a very complicated and skillful process which was discovered by the glass makers of Murano. It starts out with Murano glass rods. These rods are made from taking a 1.

5 meter metal pole with small mass of molten glass on it. It is then dipped into different pots of other molten glass of various colors. The multiple colors used in the glass create beautiful flower-like patterns, granting its name, Millefiori. As this mass increases in size, the molten glass is squeezed into a star or flower-shaped mold, which gives the final form of the pattern. A last layer of glass is applied to maintain the cylindrical shape of the rod. A second metal pole is then attached to the other side of the glass mass.

Two glass makers, one at each pole, pull the glass into a long, find rod by walking in opposite directions. After the cooling process, these glass rods can be sliced to reveal the pattern. The glass rods are sliced into desired thickness and size, resulting in the production of murrines. A murrine is each slice or piece of the rod. These individual pieces are then laid into a mold and melted. The most outer layer (the one used to maintain the cylindrical form) of each murrine will melt into each other.

Once cooled, it can be removed from the mold and be incorporated into making various Millefiori jewelry items. Although, the Venetian Murrina originates from ancient Roman, Alexandrian and Phoenician glassware, it wasn't until 1968, when the production of murrine pendants began. All it took was a simple invention of a copper band in various forms (circles, drops, hearts, crosses, etc.

) to create beautiful pieces. The slices of the Millefiori rods called murrines were placed into the copper mold and inserted into a kiln. There the murrines fuse together forming a compact shape. It is cooled and then polished to form a thin layer which is slightly convex.

A final polish heightens its shine and is ready for use. www.fashionislandjewelry.

com is one of the leading Murano Glass Jewelry sites on the internet. It offers exclusive Millefiori & Millacreli collections including Rings, Pendants, Earrings, Bracelets, Necklaces and much more.

Tomas Venckunas is author of this article on Millefiori Jewelry. Find more information about Murano Glass Rings here.