A factory in Arad continues the tradition of artisans from the Italian island of Murano to create jewelry and decorative objects from hand-processed glass, according to the century-old techniques of the Venetians, with the delicate objects that come out of the hands of Arad employees being sold in several countries while they are also in great demand in Romania around Christmas.

For 22 years, since it brought the art of processing Murano glass to Arad, the jewelry factory has been working continuously in December, to create especially globes and other decorations for the Christmas tree. Although during the rest of the year jewelry and various art objects are produced here, all made of glass, before the winter holidays the demand for globes, decorations in the shape of Santa Claus, elves, angels or snowmen explodes. Thus, the employees melt the glass to create the brightly coloured shapes that end up decorating fir trees all over the country.

The representatives of the factory told AGERPRES that, in terms of decorations for the Christmas tree, globes with gold and silver inserts are in great demand, and this year different combinations of colours are preferred.

The globes take shape by melting coloured glass sticks at a temperature of approximately 1,000 degrees Celsius.

"We work exclusively with glass brought from the island of Murano, which is melted in a flame and then placed on a metal pipe, with the help of which, by blowing, the desired shape is given. In the case of globes with gold or silver inserts, the precious metal is placed on the heated glass and covered with another layer of glass, to be protected from burning, and then it is blown to create the shape," explains the representative of the factory, Lavinia Campan.

In order to increase their resistance, the globes are treated again at a high temperature in an oven. Thus, the glass becomes more elastic and the objects are no longer brittle.

Each creation is unique precisely because it is made completely by hand, and sometimes only the imagination of the artisans is the limit for the refined shapes that appear at the end of the hot metal pipes.

"For me, it's still fascinating to see how a glass wand is transformed into a precious, unique object. It's not like you put material into a mold, and in the end all the shapes are identical. Here you leave a part of yourself in that glass globe where you blow with all the power of your lungs to bring it to the desired shape," says one of the factory's specialists.

Besides the Christmas decorations, however, there are many other glass products made in Arad that sell at least as well, such as desk or bedside clocks or photo frames.

"They are made of Murano glass, with only the mechanism of the watch being made of metal. They are true objects of art, with different colours and shapes. We adapt the design trends, even if the methods by which we make these products are those of the ancient craftsmen," says Lavinia Campan.

In December, 80% of the production of Christmas decorations is sold in Romania, and the rest goes mainly to Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic. During the rest of the year, when jewelry is the main production, 80% of it is exported, especially in Italy, where tourism is an important branch of the economy.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the high inflation in Europe, affected the demand, the 50 employees of the factory in Arad managed to survive these challenges.

"For jewelry, our final customer is the tourist in Italy. In the context of the pandemic, it is clear that tourism has been affected in Italy as well as in the whole world, so that sales have dropped sharply. Moreover, since March 2020, after the state of emergency was established in Romania, for about six months we had to stop production. Later we recovered, but the war in Ukraine intervened, which led to an increase in energy prices. In the context in which we produce with the help of gas and electricity, in the last year production costs have doubled, but despite all this, we have made efforts not to increase the prices of our products, because high inflation causes people to rethink their priorities, and jewelry and decorations are considered luxury items, not from the strictly necessary category," explains Lavinia Campan.

The hopes of the Arad factory are that 2023 will be a year of recovery, so that the issue of personnel restructuring has not been raised, even if the last three years have been difficult.

"It is very difficult to train people for such an activity. Those who process glass by hand are true artists, they have working techniques that require a lot of skill and creativity, that's why it was very important to keep all our employees," explains Lavinia Campan.

In Romania, Murano glass objects made in Arad are sold mainly in malls or specialized stores. They can be found from jewelry and wristwatches to trays, ashtrays, vases or furniture clocks.

The prices of Christmas globes and figurines start from 23 lei and can reach 50 lei, depending on the size and model. Jewelry is more expensive and can cost from several tens of lei to several hundred lei. AGERPRES (RO - author: Marian Buga, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)

Photos: (c) Marian Buga/AGERPRES