Cristallo in Murano artistic glass production is transparent glass, absolutely colorless. What makes cristallo so precious are its secret ingredients, the purity of the raw materials used, and the secretes of fusion process. The name ‘crystal’ comes from: the greek ‘krystallos’ which means ice.
Both glass and crystal are obtained through a process of melting and cooling mixtures of silicates. The difference between glass and crystal is the presence in crystal of metal oxides which is usually lead. This causes a significant increase in density and hence the brilliance which is like the optical properties of a women’s best friend: diamond. Crystal is a glass which has characteristics of gloss, transparency and elasticity.
A colorless glass of extreme high quality purity, like rock crystal, was first obtained by Venetian glass masters in 1450. In the middle of the 15th century, Murano invented a pure and colorless glass, which for the first time in history was called cristallo and was later imitated in other European countries. Murano cristallo is a sodic-calcic glass whose primary components, aside from silica, are sodium oxide and calcium oxide.
Today Murano crystals are world renowned for its exclusivity and quality. With their fame rising, imitations are unfortunately getting prominence. To safeguard the interest of buyers, Regione Del Veneto have entrusted the trademark of Vetro Artistico® Murano that guarantees the glass product is authentic. It is the only guarantee of a product being an original Murano Glass art piece.