Our beads all take a similar path arriving here to have photography made, get names, assign Product Codes and finally to you.
A Peek Inside the Effetre Factory
We begin with the famous Effetre glass canes which are produced on the island of Murano in much the same fashion as hundreds of years ago. The Effetre factory is a secretive place and only a couple of times have I been allowed to have a camera inside. Few people are allowed inside, and I am always with a bead maker when we are selecting canes. Canes are sold in 10 kilo bundles, so locals expect to make a lot of beads! (There are a couple of “retailers” on the island who sell to some of the smaller artisans, at a higher price of course.)
Bundles of Effetre Canes
The making of the canes is difficut task, but the real super stars of our beads are our dedicated bead makers who work in constantly staring into the flame, knowing exactly the right moment to wrap the molten glass around the mandrel. It takes a certain feel of the glass, knowing how the glass looks – when it is all glowing red. And did I say, you need to be able to turn the mandrel with one hand in one direction while controlling the flow of the molten glass with the other hand, a little like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time.
Bead makers View
They work with few tools, certainly not delicate tools, the most important one is simply gravity. The few tools help with the shaping.
Pinchers – Forms
When making rounds, you need only gravity and these little forms which they use to center the roundness of the mass of molten glass around the copper mandrel. Easier said than done. Work too long and the glass becomes to hard to move.
Copper Mandrels and Forms for Rounds
The side view of the classic Murano/Venetian glass torch, known as a canello. The small tray to the side of the torch holds fritte, small polverized glass, which will be used to decorate the bead.
Torch from the Side View
When the day is done, and the beads have cooled for several hours, a helper cuts the excess of the soft copper mandrel off and they go into these sieve baskets and are put in the acid machine where the acid eats the copper mandrel from the bead, leaving the holes.
Beads Going to the Acid Machine
The beads are dried (or not) sometimes our bead makers are rushing and the beads arrive to us still slightly damp.
The last step is equally important, the boat that goes around the island picking up shipments. We need a strong partner who can get the shipments from the islands to the airport in Venice. From there they take varied routes to the US, where we start our part of this journey, making photos, assigning numbers, and finally when you choose them another trip through one of our shipping partners.
Whew, I am a little exhausted just thinking how difficult it is to get a 8mm Gold Foil bead to you!
Round 8mm Gold Foil Murano Glass Beads
What a process!!! How exquisite! Hope your business is going well. Am no longer making jewelry, but have looked for your store to do some shopping.
I bet you are tired! It always seem like an easy job if I look at it as a customer. We go on the website & there the beauties are. Venice is 1 of the places in the world I have always wanted to see. I love art glass & seeing it made by masters of the craft would be a treat.
Thanks for the timeline on the process, it’s so interesting & makes the beads even more valuable (not in money) for the artistry, time & talent.
I always try to read the blog entries when you post them. Thanks for the time you put into them, I enjoy them.
It is not the easiest way to make a living, but we love the beads, the glass, our bead makers and our faithful customers. So it has it’s rewards. We will try to write more, more pictures as we know this helps our customers who make and sell jewelry with their story line. It is quite simply the most beautiful glass in the world. Best,
Interesting! Thanks for sharing the story – it makes the beads even more impressive knowing what it takes to get them made.