We will be going to Venice for our 20th wedding anniversary and would like to pick out a nice piece of jewlery. Does anyone know a reputable jewler with reasonable prices?

Hi Maria,<BR> I'm not terribly conversant with Venice, but I don't recall that it is known for its jewelry.<BR><BR> We brought back a rather nice Venetian glass chandelier, that served a similar purpose.

Really there are literally hundreds of jewelry shops all around Venice. Probably you would get better prices by not shopping in the San Marco Square area.

Oh yes I should have mentioned, Maria is right about the jewelry. I was thinking mainly of the glass related pieces--beads, glass pendants, earings etc. You can find some nice antique glass jewlry as well.

Hi Maria,<BR><BR>I found a fabulous factory in Murano and bought 2 exquisite necklaces of Venetian hand-blown glass. Every time I where them, friends and strangers comment on how beautiful they are and ask where I got them.<BR><BR>I wrote up the location of the factory on my travel-log from the spring 2002. Put the word &quot;kiki&quot; into the search box and you will find it.<BR><BR>There are 2 Cenedese factories on Murano so make sure you go to the right one. <BR><BR>I saw similar necklaces at Neiman Marcus that were in the $400+ range, and mine (at least I think it is) is even nicer, and I got it for less than 1/2 that.<BR><BR>Have fun!<BR><BR>Kiki

Dear Maria:<BR><BR>Glass beaded jewellery is really a speciality of Venice, I would recommend that as a nice memento of the trip and your anniversary. I have a friend (a jeweller) who travels there to take bead making classes and thinks the work there is the best in the world.<BR><BR>As for other jewellery, please, please, please do some comparison shopping at home before you go. Know what you want and what it would cost you in the US. I would even go so far as to say don't buy precious gem jewellery in Italy, you just don't know what you are getting. In addition, as soon as you open you mouth in a place like Venice, they will know where you are from and prices will increase accordingly. You are better off using a jeweller at home who you know and trust (or others do) if you really want to buy valuable jewellery. <BR><BR>Hope this is helpful.<BR>

Maria<BR>I haven't yet been to Venice so I can't personally vouch for these shops, but will share some recommendations I received. (I do agree with previous posters that Venice is not known for gold the way Florence is.) Also, all the gold in Venice is (or should be 18k)<BR><BR>OREFICERIA DE L&quot;OROLOGIO on Mercerie (around the corner from Piazza San Marco). Run by Bruno Simonato it's a very small shop but is supposed to have a surprisingly large selection of gold jewelry for the size of the store.<BR><BR>RIALTO 79 is billed as a &quot;jewel box of a store&quot; with modest prices on new (not antique) glass bead jewelry. (It's next door to a shop that's supposed to have great masks.)