My wife and I are traveling to Italy for our 25th anniversary, I was thinking it would be good to come home with a meaningful souvenir.
Thanks!
Hi Steve,
Does your wife favor Gold or Sterling Silver?
As you may know, Gold is still relatively high in price. You can find some beautiful, intricate Sterling Silver pieces in jewelry shops.
No need to haggle as if you were in an open market. You "could" ask the jeweler if they "can do better with price" if it is really something your wife loves. They may offer a 10- to 15% discount.
Rome has many jewelry stores too.
With Florence, you will see a sea of jewelry stores on the Ponte Vecchio. Most of them will be high priced.
There is a store owned by an American woman, Traci. Her place looks like a cute 'corner store.' Her things are fairly unique, vary in price. She and her staff get rave reviews.
Here she is in Firenze
https://it-it.facebook.com/goldcornerbytraci/?ref=page_internal
Piazza Santa Croce, 15 R (6383,29 km)
50122 Firenze
Tel. +39 055 241971
I've seen nice contemporary glass jewelry from Murano (Venice) for sale in museum shops in Scotland. Be aware that glass is heavy, so the chunkiest necklaces might not be so comfortable to wear. There are inexpensive items made with millefiori glass (bunched canes cut cross-wise), but I suspect they are not all made on Murano. I've considered picking up a watch with a millefiori dial myself.
Traditionally, a lot of coral items came out of southern Italy, I think around the Bay of Naples. But there are now environmental concerns, and I believe it is illegal to import coral to the US. I haven't verified that, however.
There used to be many jewelry shops on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, mostly selling gold. I imagine many are tourist traps, overpriced, and dealing in non-Italian products, but I am suspicious by nature in such situations and have no facts to back up my suspicions.
I love the Murano glass necklace my husband bought for me in Venice. It is not all glass, simply one lovely glass pendant that I can wear on a silver chain or choker. But you will also see necklaces of glass beads that are small and not too heavy.
there's a woman who does amazing work with glass beads in Venice, her name is Marisa Convento, check our her instagram account. she may have a website as well, but I can't verify from my work computer. If I ever get back to Venice, I would love to have her make me a necklace! There are a couple of sisters, Marina and Susanna Sent who make very modern, funky necklaces and jewelry using Murano glass. I believe they have a store on Murano, and also elsewhere in the city. You can also buy their pieces at museum gift stores.
In Florence, Angela Caputi has fabulous funky jewelry as well (you can tell what my style is!). I don't wear yellow gold jewelry, so I cannot vouch for any of the stores that carry it, except to say I have seen some lovely older pieces in antique stores, including a charm bracelet back in 2005 that I wish I had bought -- it was so lovely, I would have made an exception to my no gold rule.
Florence is for gold.
Below some of the most famous jewelry shops.
The city of Arezzo, one hour away, is the most famous for their gold jewelry. Many of the products sold in Florence come from Arezzo. If you visit Arezzo, you might find better prices there.
https://www.italiantalks.com/it/moda-2/le-gioiellerie-piu-belle-di-firenze/
Massai orefici is also famous.
My wife still really likes a ring we purchased in the gift shop of the Vatican Museum, it was a reproduction of a ring in the collection. It seems good quality, and it brings up memories for her. Maybe not what you are looking for, but seems related. Of course no haggling there.
Yes, that it is Girasole! many of her designs featured coral structures and or what she refers to as "tutti-frutti" beads.
Hand carved cameos abound throughout the country, although the manufacturers are more in the southern part of the country. These are mounted into rings, necklaces and brooches, and the high quality ones command top dollars (or Euros). Here's a link to a place in Naples which is very reasonable: https://www.eredijovon.com/en/6-shell-cameo-ring-earrings-bracelets-cufflinks-jewelry
A tip. Some years ago I was in Venice with my ex wife. She saw a spectacular blue and white cameo ring and wanted to buy it right then. I talked her into waiting until we would be in Sorrento, where I opined that the choice and the quality would be better. I know--husbands sometimes say stupid things. She didn't buy the ring, and we never saw another of that quality anywhere we went. I have always regretted being a "know it all" and for dissuading her from buying the ring she loved. Carpe diem.
In Florence, an Italian friend recommended Sergio Vaggi & Figli on the Ponte Vecchio. American friends bought jewelry there and were very happy with both the price and quality.
I saw a post on this forum earlier this year for Atmosfera Veneziana in Venice and added it to my list to check out. It happened to be just around the corner from the RS hotel on the Best of Italy tour I took this past May. I and several fellow RS tour members purchased some beautiful Murano glass earrings and necklaces there. Michelangelo, the kind owner, is Venetian, married to an American, and speaks English. He will give you a Murano glass certificate of authenticity if you request it. Here is the website which has a map of the location (near St. Marks square) http://www.atmosferaveneziana.com/site/home_page.html
P.S. I would say don’t haggle at this shop! I think his prices are very reasonable and high quality. The shops in Venice are numerous and can be overwhelming. Michelangelo’s shop was a nice respite from the overly bright craziness of the other shops.
On a recent trip to Venice, I bought a beautiful necklace. I asked, "Is this the best price?" And he said, "The best price would be free." Anyway, he gave me a little discount :)
I have a glass bead necklace from Venice and a cameo ring that I bought somewhere outside of Rome. I love them both and they both bring back good memories. I have no idea about haggling though-I just paid the price marked!
For my husband’s 50th we picked out cuff links at a jeweler on Ponte Vecchio. On Murano he got me a beautiful colorful set of Murano glass beads. The shops were very nice we didn’t haggle just paid the marked price, although in Murano at that particular shop we purchased quite a bit and he gave us one of the pieces. It will be special just don’t plan too much on when, what and where you’re going to get the gift, browse together and find something special.
Min...that shop looks amazing...adding it to my list as I am going in 3 weeks and thanks Steve for posting the question or I would never have known about it....
