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		ABOUT OUR GLASS BEADS
		MURANO/VENETIAN GLASS Venice has been a center of glassmaking since very early times. In the thirteenth century, the Venetian government ordered its glassmakers to move their foundries to the nearby island of Murano, fearing that the heat of the furnaces would endager the city's buildings. Today much of the glass made in the region is in the area of Venice, as well as on Murano itself. Venetian glassmaking is a highly skilled artform in which the glass artist employs the lampwork method of working with the colorful glass, using a torch to melt, shape, and decorate each piece. One of the more popular features is the inclusion of metallic threads or patches within the glass. Another is the "millefiori" (meaning" thousands of flowers") technique in which the artist uses small canes of glass to create tiny flowers within the glass itself. Our Venetian glass comes ONLY from Italy, not from China, which produces a similar but inferior "Murano style" glass.
		SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL Most people are very familiar with the beautiful Austrian Swarovski Crystal, well known for its uniform cut and rich colors. Manufacture of the crystal began in the late nineteenth century with the introduction of a new precision cutting machine that provided the uniform quality that has become a standard today. The lead content of the crystal is approximately 32%, producing a very high quality bead with great sparkle and clarity. These beads are beautiful by themselves, but they really add a lot of pizzazz when used with other types of beads (in particular Murano glass). The beads shown here are bicone, square, and round, but the company produces a wide variety of beads and pendants in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Of particular note is the metallic coating (aurora borealis, or AB) on many of the beads that creates a rainbow effect when reflecting light.
		CANE (OR FURNACE) GLASS Known as either caher cane or furnace glass, this glass is produced when small canes of glass are fused together to form one larger rod made up of various colors and stripes. The whole thing is coated in a clear glass, then it is sliced into a variety of bead shapes and thicknesses. In the photo you may see round, square, triangular, or even heart-shaped beads. The color combinations are unlimited, and the beads are wonderful used alone or in combination with Swarovski crystals. We purchase our cane beads from U.S. manufacturers, most commonly those made by David Christensen, to ensure the high quality you would expect. They are great for bracelets and earrings, in particular, and have a modern look..
		GLASS SEED BEADS We use glass seed beads in a wide range of colors and styles to lend a delicate look to our jewelry. These beads are wonderful when used to form chains to suspend the beautiful Murano beads and pendants, and they add a little more interest to many of the pieces by introducing metallics and contrasting color, as well as repeat patterns to complement specific beads.
	Copyright 2007, Bluewater Design