What Is Murano Glass? How ATHENAIE Glass Beads Are Made

By Miker Zhao, Founder & Designer, ATHENAIE · 7 min read

Murano glass is glass made on Murano, a small island in the lagoon of Venice where glassmakers have worked since 1291. On a bead, the name is often used more loosely. Our beads start as Italian Murano glass rods and are shaped one at a time at a torch in our own studio.

What "Murano glass" means

In 1291 the Republic of Venice moved its glass furnaces to Murano, partly to keep fire away from the city's wooden buildings. The craft has stayed on the island ever since. Over the centuries its workshops became known for color: clear glass, milky white glass, gold-flecked glass and hundreds of shades in between.

In the strict sense, a Murano glass object is one that was made on the island. That is also what the official Vetro Artistico® Murano mark certifies. It is a collective trademark owned by the Veneto Region and licensed only to workshops that produce on Murano.

In everyday use the term is wider. Sellers apply it to anything made with glass from Murano, and sometimes to any colorful glass bead at all. So the name alone does not tell you where a bead was made, or how.

What it means on an ATHENAIE bead

We use the term in one specific way. The glass is Italian Murano glass: solid rods made by Effetre, a glassworks on the island. The bead itself is made by us, in our own studio, by a method called torch work or lampwork.

So our beads are not made on Murano, and they do not carry the Vetro Artistico® Murano mark. When we write "Murano glass", we are naming the material. When we write "torch-worked in our studio", we are telling you who shaped it.

What COE 104 tells you

Every glass expands when heated and shrinks as it cools. The rate is called the coefficient of expansion, or COE. Effetre rods are rated COE 104.

The number matters because a patterned bead is built from several glasses: a base color, dots or petals in other colors, and often a clear layer on top. If those glasses shrink at different rates, the bead can crack as it cools. Using one family of COE 104 glass keeps the layers compatible.

It is also why this glass suits small, detailed work. It softens at a lower temperature than the hard glass used for labware, and it holds a wide range of saturated colors.

How a bead is made, step by step

1. Sketch the design

Each pattern starts on paper. We draw the bead at several times its real size and color it by hand, so the layers and the order of work are settled before any glass is melted.

2. Choose the rods

The glass arrives as rods about the thickness of a pencil. We pick the base color first, then the thinner rods that will become dots, petals or lines.

3. Melt and wind

The tip of a rod is held in the torch flame until it softens to the texture of honey. The soft glass is wound around a thin steel rod called a mandrel, which is turned by hand the whole time. The turning keeps the bead round. The mandrel leaves the hole through the middle.

4. Build the pattern

Color goes on in layers while the bead is still hot. Dots are placed one by one and pulled into petals with a pointed tool. Some designs take a layer of gold foil or a clear coat over the pattern, which gives the surface its depth.

5. Cool slowly

Glass that cools too fast holds stress and can crack later. Finished beads go into a kiln and come down to room temperature gradually. This step is called annealing.

6. Fit the silver core

Once the bead is off the mandrel, the hole is cleaned and fitted with a 925 sterling silver core. The core is smooth and unthreaded, mirror-polished and rhodium-plated, so the bead slides on easily. Sized this way, it fits European-style charm bracelets with a 3mm snake chain.

7. Check and pack

Each bead is checked for cracks, sharp edges and size before it is packed. Our standard bead measures about 15.5 x 8.5mm including the silver core.

Why no two beads are identical

A machine can press a thousand matching beads. A torch cannot. The glass moves while it is worked, so petals land a fraction of a millimeter apart and a swirl turns slightly differently each time.

That is why the bead you receive may differ a little from the photo in pattern placement or shade. We treat this as part of the piece, not a flaw. Cracks, chips and rough edges are flaws, and those beads are not sold.

Three questions to ask before you buy

These apply to any Murano glass bead, from any seller.

1. Where does the glass come from? A clear answer names the glassworks or the type of glass.
2. Where is the bead made? "Made with Murano glass" and "made on Murano" are different claims.
3. What is the core made of? Ask whether it is solid sterling silver or a plated base metal. On our beads it is 925 sterling silver.

If you already know the look you want, start with floral Murano glass beads or the gold foil designs. For how many beads fit on one bracelet and how to space them, see how to make a charm bracelet. Glass needs little care, but the silver core does; our jewelry care guide covers both. More on the metals we use is on the materials and craftsmanship page.

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