Here are some gen u wine Venetian made jewelry. I have visited them in Venice,
http://www.danielmstevens.com/

strange website but click on the x's on the left hand side.

I really like his jewelry and it is all handmade.

Girltravel-maybe you're feeling hormonal,but no need to be so nasty.

I do not doubt the provenance of your jewelry,but there is fake Murano glass all over Venice that is marked with those little tags.Something marked with one may or may not be genuine.

a square is always a rectangle,but a rectangle is not always a square.

by the way,jrmama496,here's another website for a glassmaker I know in Venice.He's a real character and makes some beautiful stuff!

www.glasshandmade.it

Tuscany (San Quirico) - Dedalo for linens

I wasn't trying to be nasty at all-just pointing out that it is cynical and an insult to Venetian artisans who may well sell Murano glass objects/jewelry at competitive prices that somehow because they are doing so such items are suspect, and not original Murano.

I do however, think you WILL hear that tired refrain about "not real Murano glass in Venice" repeated frequently by the glassmakers on the island of Murano, however...

I guess that if I was buying something incredibly expensive, I would be concerned about whether it is "genuine" or "authentic." However, if I see a very cool necklace in Venice and it is 10 euro and I love it, I'm going to buy it, whether I suspect it was made in China or on Murano Island.

I'll try to look at the receipts of where I got my necklaces...those shops had some items that I didn't see in all the other stores. In one store, the owner's eyes really lit up when I was admiring a certain necklace and earrings...it seems SHE had designed and made those particular pieces, so she was very happy when I bought them. (Or, to the cynical, did she just TELL me that?)

Similar thing with leather purses in Florence. I had heard that lots of the pieces are mostly made elsewhere, then finished in Italy so they can have the "made in Italy" tag on them. I knew we weren't shopping in the fancy shops. As a consumer, I looked at the price and bought...my daughter got a totally cool red leather purse in a style you don't see in the US for 27 euro...for that price, I won't lose sleep over where it was really made.

bookmarking

Of course,if you see something you love,and don't care where it came from or who made it,you have the right to buy it.It's just nice to be educated about it.If you buy a $5 scarf in India and are told it is a genuine Pashmina(as we are discussing on another thread)you should know that that is not the case.

If I see a cute pair of 7 euro earrings in Venice or a 15 euro "Burano" lace handkerchief,I would know that they may be cute,but probably not the work of local artisans.

This is not a "cynical" view,but an educated one.

I assume that if you but it in Murano, it is authentic? Should I just buy it there or is it much more expensive there than in town?

Anything else from the other cities?

Like I said, you can just as easily be OVERcharged for something that is supposedly authentic, and isn't, than paying little for something that is authentic.

No Jamma-do NOT believe that the only place to buy authentic Murano glass is on the island-that is what some Murano glass shops WANT you to believe-because generally, they ARE going to charge you more than where there competition is-as there are many small artisanal shops selling authentic Murano glass in Venice.

For that matter, there are many souvenir shops that sell authentic Murano glass as well-at reduced prices-but the more expensive shops will never want to tell you that.

We also like to buy ceramics from the different areas, and the patterns vary by region. We have purchased many cork/coaster sets in Vietri, near Sorrento, sort of, and Deruta, near Assisi. People always LOVE them and they are easy to stuff into small spaces in luggage. If you face the Duomo in Florence, there is a wonderful glove shop to the left across the road toward the middle of the Duomo that sells the best cashmere lined gloves I have ever enjoyed. They are very reasonably priced so you can buy funky colors you might not try otherwise. The best paper store I ever found was in Sienna across from the temple to a Greek goddess on the main plaza. I read about it in "Bella Tuscany" by Frances Mayes and it was a great tip. More expensive than Florence, but just gorgeous. I know this is easy to say, but I have never been sorry I BOUGHT something, only later regretted things I talked myself out of!

I saw quite few "OUR stuff is NOT made in China" signs in the shops on Murano, implying that the stuff next door WAS made in China.

Some other things I have purchased on my previous Italy trips and really loved:
Florence-At San Minaito al Monte
(The church at the top of the hill above Piazza Michaelangelo)
Medicinal herbs and honey bottled by the monks

Dureta pottery-condiment holder for the table

Gold-no longer a bargain,but always 18k and something I am happy to wear often.(I always buy something in Rome on a little shop on Via Pettinari near Piazza Farnese)

That's Deruta pottery,not Dureta!

Capri-Carthusia perfume; JP Tod shoes.

Sorrento-Lemoncello liqeur.

Florence--Paper from Pineider; curtain tassels from Passmaneria Valmar (Via Porta Rossa, 53r.); leather from Ferragamo; kitchen witches.

Yes! That reminds me of Passamaneria Toscana on Piazza San Lorenzo. I love this shop, I enter and start to feel weak with tassle lust. Needless to say I have pillows, tassels and fabric from this store that I love.

If you are shopping for gifts in Florence, I cannot think of a lovelier place to find them than the Santa Maria Novella farmacia. Heaps of great perfumes and candles and creams and potpourri for men and women at very reasonable prices. You should see this place even if yo do not think you need or want anything!

Two specific mid-priced stores we liked:
1. For a mid-priced wallet and belt for my son in Florence, my daughter’s recommendation was a little store on Via del Corso 69/r, called Leonardo da Vinci. A very nice woman runs it, and my daughter thought her prices were the best for quality pieces.
2. In Venice, we especially liked all the Murano glass offered for sale in shops throughout Venice, and we took time to look in many of them. One glass shop where we found an especially nice, simple necklace and earring set at a very good price, was Vetri Artistici di Murano, 3 G di Giordani, Castello 4589 (www.venetian-art.com).

wonderful thread, bookmarking

I find the suggestion of a calendar of priests' photos as a gift for gay men in very poor taste, Missypie.