Grazia di venezia -Sterling Silver Necklace with blown Murano Glass

Grazia di Venezia is a classic timeless  of GioieSelli’s Murano Glass Collection.   We’ve been making since 2004 and it’s always very much appreciated and desired by our customers. Grazia di Venezia is an handmade necklace in Sterling Silver 925, Nickel-free. The necklace is made by original Murano Glass, handmade in an ancient foundry in the heart of Murano. They have been producing the precious elements of our necklaces for many years.

The Murano Glass origins in Venice are lost in the mists of time. Archaeological excavations have uncovered fragments that indicate the presence of this activity already in the 7th century B.C. both on the Torcello island and on the Murano island. Murano’s reputation as a center for glassmaking was born in the XII century. Glassblowers came to be located on Murano for two reasons. The first was to minimize fire risk in Venice. The great number of glass-firing ovens produced beautiful glass objects but also initiated fires in the city. The fire hazard must have become onerous because by the 1270s, city officials had begun to transfer glass workshops from the center of Venice to Murano, a process completed by 1291. The second reason to relocate glassmakers to Murano was probably political. Trade secrets of Murano glassmaking were already being leaked across Europe during the Middle Ages, and sequestering glassmakers on Murano allowed the Republic to control glass production and exportation, ensuring that these secrets remained in Venice. Glassmakers faced steep fines or even imprisonment if they traveled outside the Republic, though interestingly, glassmakers from Dalmatia, Bohemia, and elsewhere were occasionally authorized to work on Murano. Until the sixteenth century, Murano glassmakers held a monopoly on European glassmaking, and their stunning creations brought them renown across the world.

We know something about early Venetian glassmaking techniques thanks to a work called L’Arte Vetraria (“glass art”), written by Antonio Neri in 1612. Neri’s work outlines the most valued types of Murano glass at that time, noting that it was the delicacy, lightness, and translucency of Murano glass that brought it fame.