Author: VenetianBeadShop

What began as a fascination with the glass of Murano has become a way of life. Our webstore has all you will need to make jewelry, quality findings, stringing materials, Swarovski Crystals and a lot more, but our main focus is the Venetian Glass Bead. We have been an integral part in promoting Venetian glass beads throughout the world as well as helping to breathe new life into traditional Venetian techniques. A few years ago, we introduced our line of Venetian Dichroics to the US through as a result of years of efforts with our beadmakers in Murano. We continue to bring new and innovative ideas to this age old industry. Most recently, we developed the Furnace Glass along with our partner furnace in Venice. It's a blend of old glass making techniques to work with new fashion ideas. We remain a family owned business located in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, CA, USA where we have been importing Venetian Glass and Murano Glass commercially since 1993. Our wholesale showroom has the largest collection of Venetian Beads on display anywhere.

Marvin Lipofsky – US Glass Movement Pioneer

Marvin Lipofsky, remains a legend in the US glass movement. His contributions are numerous. He was large burly glass artist known for his irascible temperament, an artist who pushed the theories on glass (and his students) as a medium influenced by his original studies in clay.

The picture is part of our “selfie” a new word for Marvin that we made at the San Jose Glass Art Society Conference in June 2015. He arrived at the party at the Tech Museum with only a hand written name tag. No one dared point this out. His size and reputation preceded him – everywhere.

He was among the first students in the Harvey Littleton‘s emerging US Studio Glass Movement and with the exposure to glass, his focus changed. With his MFA in sculpture, he went on to teach at the University of California Berkeley and in 1967 founded the glass program at the California College of Arts and Crafts. And the rest, as they say, is history.

For his full resume you can visit his website

He was one of the early members of the Glass Art Society (G.A.S.) and wore many hats organizing and promoting this world wide association which today has over 2,700 members from 50 countries. He received the Lifetime in 1986 and was on hand in 2015 to see his student Mary White receive this prestigious award. Though classic, Lipofsky, he was still critiquing her work, always pushing his students.

Along the way he has studied and taught in over 50 cities around the world. This video was filmed at the Oakland Museum in California with Lipofsky in his own words.

Lipofsky’s work has been collected by many public institutions worldwide. In the United States his work can be found in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Oakland Museum, Oakland, California; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Philadelphia Museum of Art and Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. Overseas his work is in Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark; Glasmuseum Frauenau (de) (Sammlung Wolfgang Kermer (de)), Germany; Museum Bellrive in Zürich, Switzerland;Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Holland; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in Sapporo, Japan

To say that his work lives on, is an understatement.

FTC New Rules for Jewelry – What You Need to Know

As a designer, artist and jewelry maker, it is unlikely you spend a lot of time contemplating the rules laid our by the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, but as persons, partnerships, corporations at every level of the trade who are engages in manufacturing, distributing and the sale of products, you too are subject to these requirements. For the full FTC document for which they seek comments view the FTC Comment Document. Apparently this broad document has been undergoing review since 2012. Note that if you have any comments, they must be submitted by 4 April 2016. You can also review any comments on the FTC Website as they pursue their charter to promote competition and protect and educate consumers.

The new “rules” reflect revisions to existing interpretations of:

Surface application of precious metals (i.e., platings)
Products containing more than one precious metal (Vermeil, Silver and Gold Fill)
Alloys with precious metals below minimum thresholds
Lead-glass-filled stones
Varietals
Cultured Diamonds
Use of the term “gem”
Treatments to pearl products

1.Surface Applications of Precious Metals

Proposal to require a “full” disclosure of the metals in a piece of jewelry, especially when it is an alloy or a plated product. Additionally, to strengthen the durability of surface applications of gold which would basically require at least 22karat gold, rather than the 10 karat which is found in much jewelry on the market. The commission is attempting to make statements based on what consumers may expect regarding the durability of a product. And to require the disclosure of rhodium plating on other precious metals. The jewelry industry uses Rhodium plating to avoid tarnishing of sterling silver.

2. Products Containing more than 1 Precious Metal

The proposed new section states it is unfair or deceptive to misrepresent the relative quantity of each metal. It asvises that descriptions should list precious metals in the order of their relative weight. So it’s all about wordsmithing so that the consumer is not duped.

3. Alloys with precious metals below minimum thresholds

Requires marketing of products to provide truthful information about the precious metal and avoid giving the impression that lessor quality materials will perform as well as higher quality materials.

4. Lead-Glass-Filled Stones

Proposes more accurate description of stones which have been infused with substantial quantities of lead glass. So if the stone has been infused with lead glass, that must be in the description.

5. Varietals

This provides that certain misleading terms must be discontinued. For example “yellow emerald” can not be used to describe a golden beryl and “green amethyst” cannot be used to describe prasiolite.

6. Cultured Diamonds

Diamonds which are laboratory created must state exactly that, i.e., laboratory-grown, manufactured by, synthetic.

7 Misuse of the word “Gem”

Avoid the misuse of Gem names such as Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Topaz, Birthstone or Gemstone.

8 Treatments to Pearl Products

Provide adequate descriptors to disclose treatments, if it is (a) not permanent, (b) has special care requirements (c) has a significant effect on the products value.

In Summary

The changes are aimed at accurate descriptions and names to safeguard the consumer and avoidance of confusing descriptions to products. You just need to label the items you sell honestly and accurately

The final wording is not yet cast, but generally these are the issues. Much of the logic of the FTC is based on what the FTC calls “reasonable expectations” of a customer. Many of their rules are based simply in “Truth in Advertising”, a noble cause, just not an common goal everywhere in the world.

The FTC and it’s rules are aimed at safeguarding the American consumer, but the big question is enforcement in an age where products available in every stores comes from world wide sources where the FTC has no authority.

How to Avoid Problems?

It comes down to knowing and trusting your supplier. It is also why we do not accept returns of Precious Metals findings. We cannot sell resale returns as the testing to verify the metals is too time consuming and expensive.

Take a look at our large selection of Findings.

What do you do with your Broken Beads?

One of our suppliers in Venice came up with a clever way to use the broken beads for the holiday season, which send me right out to collect a box of broken beads and get started.

A quick trip to a craft store for the cone and some pins with colored balls on the end got me started. Then is was only the selection of beads, of which we have a large quantity. Let me know if you want to buy some broken beads ;>)

I put the larger beads at the bottom and graduated upwards. Since I absolutely prefer asymmetrical, I never gave a throught to pattern, unlike the one sent to me from Venice. Since I wasn’t going to break any beads to use, I didn’t have as many red as I might have liked.

I put a couple of our “hurt” bears along side the tree. They look perfectly happy to be by the tree, even missing an arm. You could use beads that are not broken and just remove them after the holidays. It would be a fun project for the youngsters (as long as they are safe with the pins). If you wanted to leave it as it, then using a glue gun would be your best bet.

Have fun with this! and Happy Holidays from VenetianBeadShop.com

Quantity is really how hard you work – NOT a definition of “Art”.

I have been a member of ISGB (International Society of Glass Beads) for about 15 years and GAS (Glass Art Society) equally as long. So I was a little taken back when I received a pamphlet at the GAS conference here in San Jose, CA (where I spent 3 days volunteering) called “How to Buy Glass Beads – A Shopper’s Guide to Finding Quality Art Glass Beads” which is a real “looking down the nose” at those of us who produce more than 5 beads a week.

OK, so you can see I am not making this up, I just scanned it in so everyone can read – (hopefully not our bead makers who would be terribly offended!)

And inside it continues…

The prices of the factory-made beads are often “too good to be true”. We work very hard to keep prices down and deal with not only fluctuations in the Euro but also in precious metals pricing.
Another sign of factory-made beads is quantity – the fact that our bead makers show up every day and make beads is a penalty?
Is the work “professionally” displayed (This means 5 beads of in a plate of rice?)
Quality and Techniques used for centuries in Murano are not “real” EXCUSE ME? Where do you think ISGB beadmakers learned?
Ask the seller to tell you the name of who made bead: Yes, really I am going to reveal my beadmakers whom I have cultivated, spend millions – YES, and 20 years of my life to develop.

PLEASE, the Venetians and Muranese have been doing this since the 800s and before. Recent discoveries in Altino digs have uncovered murrine (millefiori) from the 1st Century AD. Altino was destroyed in 452 AD by Attila forcing its people into the islands we now know as Venice.

American “artists” came along only few years ago. The fact that our wonderful bead makers support themselves, raise families, send their children to college, buy homes (and YES they can make quantity) only adds to their status as artists. Most of the beads these so called “ISGB artist” make have origins in Venetian Beads.

Quantity is really just a matter of how hard you work – NOT a definition of “Art”.

For example the Chevron Bead in the brochure that you see above – no artistic work there, just copycat of Venetian and from even earlier bead makers.The development is absolutely Murano in the late 1400s as documented in The History of Beads by Lois Sherr Dublin, the “bible” of beads, ISBN 0-8109-2617-2. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of beads around the world.

Among my bead makers, I count

One who owned his own Murano Glass furnace – until his wife making beads became so successful he closed the furnace and now works for her.
A maestro who worked at Venini (Murano Glass Furnace) – have you seen their pieces? I dare you to say he is not an artist!
One who began as an apprentice in a furnace at 12 years old, and has raised 2 daughters making beads in his home.
One who began as an apprentice at 13 in the Seguso Murano Glass Furnace under the famed Archimede Seguso, who was a truly demanding Maestro.
One who is a 3rd generation Venetian bead maker – bead cards from his family are in museums around the world.
One who learned from her mother, who worked in one of those “factories” and is considered the Queen of the Fiorato bead in Venice and Murano.
A maestro in a Murano Glass furnace who invented machines so he could produce blown beads easier (and in quantity) :>)
And many more! And I count them all my friends and respect their work!

They will work day and night, weekends to produce the beads we need.

I find it very interesting that any glassblower, Chihuly included, will acknowledge immediately that Murano is the cradle of glass blowing and respects their Maestri. Yet ISGB somehow believes they invented bead making.

Might I remind them that the Doge of Venice gave the right to make beads to the crafts people Venice in a decree in 1291 when the furnaces moved to Murano? And that the “union” of beadmakers in Venice and Murano dates back to 1308 when the State Inquisition organized the beadmakers into a Guild “Arte de’Margariteri” while the ISGB is a mere baby having been formed in 1993.

Incidentally that is the same year we began importing VenetianBeadShop.com began importing beads from Venice and Murano.

Time Line of Beads from 30,000 BC to Present – Note ISGB a newcomer in 1991!

Here are what our canes look like before they are ground to make either the chevrons or we also use in our Chevron Blown Beads

Read Venetian Bead Shop – History of Beads

Read History of Beads; Venetian Trade Beads

(P.S. – Jeff says I can rant on my blog – but not in my newsletters! So consider my ranting done.)

But I am seriously considering NOT renewing my membership!

How To Use a Crimp Tube

Using a crimp tube is an easy way to finish off your beading wire securely. It does take a little practice, but done properly, it also look professional. I prefer to use a wire protector along with the crimp. Be sure you thread the crimp on before you thread the wire through the wire protector and then back through the crimp. I also like to carry the wire through the first bead. As you can see in the instructions below. While it may not be needed for strength, I prefer the finished look.

But How do you crimp the tubes.

To propertly complete the crimp tube, Continue with these instructions. See the closeup for how the wires should be separated for a strong crimp.

Make Sure the two Wires are Separated as Shown Here

Using the crimp tube is a great and easy way to secure your jewelry, but to really finish off your jewelry, we suggest using the Crimp Bead which hides the tube. It appears as just a small silver or gold bead at each end of your jewelry.

Here’s how to add the Crimp Bead. Visit our blog

These small details mean the difference between a classy finish of your jewelry and distinguish your bead work as elegant rather than a hastily crafted piece.

You can fine Crimp Tubes on our Website. We have a variety of sizes and materials to match your designs and the tools you need: SHOP NOW

My goal is to always have the jewelry I make look like it came from Tiffany’s!

How To Use a Crimp Cover

Crimping is an easy way to finish off your beading wire to make it secure, however the result in a flat tube which sits next to the ends of your jewelry. Sometimes those little tubes have rough edges which just drive you nuts as they rub against your neck.

So I always add add a Crimp Cover. First it looks better, it appears to be a small 2 or 3mm bead at the end of your string instead of a piece of hardware and second, it eliminates any rough edges that may be left when you crimp and make it smoother to wear.

Here’s how to add the Crimp Bead. It’s basically a little clam shell that you close around the crimp tube.

You can find our selection of crimp covers online at VenetianBeadShop.

These small details mean the difference between a classy finish of your jewelry and distinguish your beadwork as elegant rather than a hastly crafted piece.

Don’t forget you can find tons of free designs, right on our website in our Design Center, hundreds of ideas to make your own Venetian Glass Jewelry.

Check out our Design Center – Free Instructions

Looks Like Tiffany’s – made by ME!

What Size Crimp Should I Use in my Venetian Jewelry?

Here’s a question we hear often. Frankly I am guilty of using the wrong size often and then wondering why the wire slipped out of my piece, so it’s also good for us to review the sizing. We made this little chart to help explain why it is important. If you use a crimp tube which is too large it will not hold the wire tightly and ultimately the crimp could slip and your jewelry break. Using too small crimps will result in an inadequate alignment of the wire and again the necklace or bracelet will break. Crimp Tubes are available both in Gold Fill and Sterling Silver.

Why use a crimp? Well you need a way to secure beading wire such as our SoftFlex or Beadalon.
What about the sizes of wire?
What Crimp for each size of wire?

Beadalon and SoftFlex recommend the following, note that each one uses slighty different diameters of wire. But it’s easy to see they are not significantly different in size.

Beadalon Wire Size (Inches)	Softflex (Inches)	Wire in MM	Crimp Tube Size MM
0.010	0.010	.25mm	1×1
0.012		.30mm	1×1
0.013		.33mm	1×1 or 2×2
	0.014	.356mm	2×2
0.015		.38mm	2×2
0.018		.46mm	2×2
	0.019	.483mm	2×2
0.020		.51mm	2×2
0.021		.53mm	2×2
0.024	0.024	.61mm	2×2 or 2×3

Our authentic Murano Glass beads have a nominal hole size of 1mm, so for our smaller 6, 8 and 10mm beads we would use the .014 up to the .019 depending on how heavy the necklace is. For our larger beads 12mm and above, we prefer the .021 and the .024 to hold our chunky Venetian Beads as the glass gets heavy.

Crimping is an easy way to finish off your beading wire. Done properly, it also look professional. I prefer to use a wire protector along with the crimp. Be sure you thread the crimp on before you thread the wire through the wire protector and then back through the crimp. I also like to carry the wire through the first bead.

You can find our selection of Crimp Tubes, Crimp Covers, Wire Protectors and the tools you need on our website: Shop Now

My goal is to always have the jewelry I make look like it came from Tiffany’s!

To Anneal or Not to Anneal – a very good question?

This is a question we get often, especially from new beaders who have just been their first bead show. Are all Venetian Beads are annealed. She had heard that annealing makes the beads stronger. What is annealing?

The word comes from the metallurgy and materials science where it has long been recognized it increases the metals ductility and makes it more workable to heat above its critical temperature and then to cool which also relieves the internal stress of the metal. In glass, it is about mainting the glass at a constant temperature, known as soaking at the annealing point where the glass is too cold to continue working, but will continue to relax, so that the entire piece can gradually cool at the same rate. If the glass were left in the open, you can easily see that the outside would cool faster than the inside. Annealing keeps the temperature constant throughout the bead.

Above is a large muffola in a production furnace. Each piece of blown glass is placed in an oven which is temperature controlled to be sure all the glass is the same temperature and then to cool the mouth blown pieces slowly. In older days before temperature control and when they still used wood for the heating, the person who was in charge of this was called “uomo di notte” and his job was to stay all night and watch the process as well as prepare the glass for the next days work.

For centuries, the Venetians have annealed by:

1) flash annealed, where the bead is put back into the flame one final time to heat the bead to a consistent temperature and

2) slowly cooled the bead in a container of silica which helps hold the temperature. In older days, the Venetians used the sand from the lagoon which is called “fango” in Italian and was also used for the “bead release”. Today the world uses vermiculite for this process. Vermiculite is a mineral similar to mica which is fire proof.

The stresses set up in the bead have a lot to do with the amount of time it takes to make the bead, the decorations, etc and frankly the skill level of the bead maker. In our small beads, they are made rather quickly and there is very little value of annealing other than by use of the vermiculite. You can see the beads still on the mandrels and they are submerged into the vermiculite during the production day.

For our larger, obviously more complex beads we do use an annealing oven – called a muffola in Italian. For our Moretti glass, the annealing temperature is about 940F and it is important to keep them at this level and then bring down gradually. For our blown beads they are all annealed, here you see the small kiln beside the furnace.

Annealing does not make the bead stronger, it insures that there are no stresses set up in the bead during the cooling cycle. Tempering makes the glass stronger – which is the process used for car windows, shatter-proof glass, etc. Below is a type of annealing oven, a kiln produced in the US specifically for beads, note that it has a place for individual beads. (We do not use one like this as we make many more beads than this would accommodate.)

Regardless of how beads are annealed, each of our beads are annealed, most in the classic Venetian method. And below you see a tray of Venetian Beads ready to make jewelry.

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What Sizes are the Holes in Murano Glass Beads?

This is a question every new beader asks when they first encounter Venetian Beads. And then they ask, “What size wire should I use?”

Venetian Beads, Murano Beads

The most common size of holes of Murano Glass Beads is approximately 1mm. Approximate because they are most often made on 1mm diameter copper rods, which heats up and naturally expands. The glass wrapped around it expands as well, but when the glass and the copper cool, they both shrink. So we generally have a ~1mm hole and for larger beads, the mandrel will be larger as the mandrel must support the bead in the fire.

Copper Mandrels on our Venetian Dichroic Beads

We also make beads like our PerlaVita, European Large Hole Beads, Bimbi, our smaller European Large Hole Beads for Children, Duo and 2mm Rondelles which we developed for Leather and they each have different sizing. We make these on stainless steel rods using a bead release to keep the glass from sticking to the rods. Bead Release was used in Venice prior to the 1920s and was called “fango” meaning mud because it came from the lagoon. Bead Release is similar to kiln wash and contrary to popular believe it was not invented by Americans, but they did add graphite to it.

Stainless Steel Mandrels Ready for making PerlaVita Beads

So the short answer is that any wire which is less than 1mm can be used for Venetian Beads. The important issue is the weight of a bead. So larger beads from 16mm up through our 30 and 40mm beads will need a larger gauge wire. Venetian/Murano Beads will always be slightly abrasive around the edges. This is not a defect, simply how the beads are made.

Bracelets or Necklaces?

Bracelets will require a heavier gauge because bracelets are much more active and get more abuse than a necklace. Necklaces, especially those with Swarovski or small beads can be strung on a smaller gauge because they will not be subjected to as much stress.

Beadalon and SoftFlex

We carry wire from both Beadalon and SoftFlex, which are the standard setters in the beading industry. SoftFlex is produced in the US and much of Beadalon is also produced in the US, though they also import, each spool of wire will tell you the place of manufacture. Beadalon is part of a larger corporation which manufacturers fishing line. So your beading wire’s not-so-distant relative is fishing line! And probably the reason each line has a “pound” weight limit – so if you are fishing for really big fish, you need a heavier gauge line. If you are stringing large bead, you need a heavier gauge wire!

Strands of Wire

You will notice that both Beadalon and SoftFlex have different number of strands.The more strands in the wire, the more it can flex without breaking – and the more strands in the wire, the higher the pricing.

SoftFlex Label

The SoftFlex Label on the wire gives you a wealth of information, including recommendations for use of each type wire.The wire shown is 49 Strands with a 26 pounds test strength, and a diameter of .019 Inches which is .48mm. Since our Venetian Beads are generally 1mm holes, this is a good choice.

Wire Gauges are confusing!

The larger the number – the smaller the wire

QUICK CONVERSIONS

Make an Adjustable Charm Bangle with Beadalon Bracelet Jig

Make This Bracelet – So Popular This Year

We love this Beadalon Bracelet Jig to make an adjustable charm bangle. It was voted “Hot” Product of CHA in 2015 (CHA is the Craft Hobby Association).

It is simple and so very popular this year thanks to Alex and Ani. You’ll want to make dozens. Wear them in stacks.

You don’t have to have this jig to make the bracelet. Use a drink can or other bottle to wrap the wire to give it a nice round shape. You can spread the overlap apart if you need it larger or squeeze it a bit further for a smaller size.

The key here is that you want to put the charm which fits inside the overlapping wire before you close the loops. The charms that float you can add at the end. You need only a pair of side cutters to cut the wire and 2 long nose pliers to open and close the endings as well as the charms you add. Watch Wyatt White, Product Manager, from Beadalon as he shows you how to make this bracelet.

Wyatt recommends 18 gauge half hard wire so it maintains it’s shape better. In our bracelet, we used Beadalon 18 gauge Silver Plated Wire. We also have pre-made bracelets in Sterling Silver and in Vermeil (Gold Plate over Sterling).

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