Body jewelry is an ancient way of expressing one’s ideas, religion, and so on. But it is still popular to this day, and probably always will be. Wearing jewelry is no longer the sole pastime of a woman. Now men equally enjoy decorating themselves with beautiful jewelry pieces. But sometimes it is not possible for you to go for valuable and expensive jewelry made of precious metals like platinum or gold. As an alternative to the highly priced expensive body jewelry, a whole new range of jewelry has occupied the market, which is cheaply priced but looks as beautiful as the real gold or platinum jewelry. Body jewelry, better known as fashion or costume jewelry, is made of low-priced metals like silver or titanium, glass or plastic. This kind of jewelry is available with gold polish and with the use of semi precious stones like beads, diamonds, kundan etc, to give an exquisite look.

This kind of cheap body jewelry is especially targeted to the college crowd, who tend to want a cool and modern look via earrings, nose rings, naval jewelry and the like. This group, however, has limited pocket money and can’t afford expensive stuff. This kind of jewelry is also meant for middle class society, who want to be in tune with fashion and decorate themselves with trendy and charming jewelry, but whose resources are limited. So the concept of cheap body jewelry gives the freedom and opportunity for a not-so-rich class of society to decorate themselves with body jewelry.

Murano, a small island to the north of Venice, has been the center of the Venetian glass industry since 1291 when the Venetian Republic ordered the glassmakers to move their factories and workshops to this island. Murano glasswork has been renowned for centuries for its craftsmanship, styles and color. Murano glassmaking techniques and the consummate skill of its artisans – found their way into glass jewelry making.

The creation of Murano jewelry begins with the manufacture of colored glass canes, an activity which is a significant challenge to any glassmaker since the chemical compounds involved in making colored glass are extremely sensitive and must be mixed with unerring accuracy. Aquamarine, for example, is achieved through the fusion of cobalt and copper during the manufacturing process; ruby red, on the other hand, requires a gold solution as a coloring agent for the glass. Other materials are used to create the different colors used in Murano jewelry.

Also known as the torch and mandrel technique, lampworking is one such technique which has been in use since the 1700s. Under this method, Murano glass tubes and canes are heated until they reach a molten or near-liquid state and wrapped around a metal rod until the desired shape is achieved. This is supplemented by the application of several layers of colored glass as well as gold or silver leaf, applied carefully in order to achieve the effect the artisan wants. The bead is then slowly cooled and removed from the rod, leaving a hole in the bead which is used for stringing it.

Murano is also known for Chevron or Rosetta beads which are created from a hollow glass cane and six layers of glass in different colors that have been defined since the 14th century – white, blue, white, brick red, white and finally, blue. After the colors have been layered, the beads are milled to produce a pattern consisting of 5 concentric, 12-pointed stars. The canes are then chopped into beads marked by a red, white and blue pattern.