shopping in venice

The Best Way to Wear Murano Glass: Attombri in Venice

Filed under: Jewelry, Luxury Travel & Hotels

It's easy to feel drab in Venice, with all that iconic golden light bathing the colors of sunset all day, from the faded ruddy watercolor buildings, to the chalky green canal water, to the blue and white striped shirt gondoliers.

Plus, if you get the urge to spruce up a bit, the shopping isn't entirely inspiring -- the shops seem to be either ubiquitous internationally available boutiques or in the business of peddling tourist tchochkes.

A solution: Attombri.

Okay, so this jewelry shop, run by two brothers, has received international recognition -- see Dolce & Gabbana, Vogue, etc. -- but their materials are entirely Venetian. The brothers purchased heaps of antique Murano glass beads, my understanding is that they were procured from a glass company going out of business. They do all their work by hand, and the pieces tend to play the shine of the glass off of intricately twisted metal. Their pieces some how retain the feeling of the antique that pervades Venice, but with the aid of the occasional asymmetrical line and a fine editing eye, still look contemporary. (See the gallery below.)

I arrived at their studio/gallery in Campo San Maurizio, which is in the San Marco area, in the early afternoon. (That's the door of their shop above, reflecting the square.) But the door was locked, and a handwritten note was affixed: out to lunch for a few hours. Only a small set back; I'd already been in Venice for a few days at this point, I'd become accustomed to two things: getting lost and changing my plans.

Gallery: Attombri in Venice