Murano glass jewelry, as the name implies, is made from original Murano glass. Murano glass comes from Murano, which was the glasswork capital of the world in the 13th Century. Glass working technologies such as crystalline glass, milleflori, enameled glass, multi-colored glass, smoke glass, and milk gas all came from Murano.

Murano glass beads, which are more commonly known as Venetian beads, are made from Murano glass canes. These glass canes are made of 70% silica or sand. The rest of them are made of soda and lime, and some additives for lowering the melting point, extending its molten state, modifying its color, or perhaps prevent the glass from bubbling. The class canes are cut using a tagianti, the glass maker’s cutting tool for both glass and the copper rod used for holding the glass. The cut portions of cane are then melted using open flame lamps or blowtorches.

When glass becomes fluid, at a temperature of about 800F, the glass worker uses copper rods, now commonly copper mandrels, to scoop a small portion of the molten cane. At this temperature, there are times when embers of glass pop which can result in burns. Protective gear such as rubber gloves and glass shields are used to make the work safer. When a drop of glass is already stuck on the copper rod, it is still heated in the lamp and shaped using one of many shaping tools.

Once the shape is final, other decorations such as gold strips, silver strips, etc may be wrapped around or inside the glass. The glass is hot worked once more, then allowed to cool in a bed of silica called vermiculite. Once the bead is finished, the extension of the mandrel is simply chopped off, and using nitric acid solution, the embedded portion is dissolved.