We were in Venice this past weekend. On Sunday morning, just as we got off the ferry at St.Marco, we were approached by a man who identified himself as a \"member of the Venice city council\", who was involved in a promotional tour of the Murano island glass factory. He said there was a special tour being offered that day only \"because it was a holiday\". He quickly handed us over to a water taxi driver who then rushed us in to the lagoon.
We were told we were going to see \"master glass blowing\'. At the factory we were immediately approached by one of the company employees who had us watch a very simple glass bell blowing, and hustled us up to the \"gallery\". He was with us almost every step of the way, offering discounts on everything we looked at.
We ended up purchasing several pieces from the downstairs shop, with the persistent and somewhat smirking salesman pushing various objects at us. I am not sure these objects were not made in India or China, as there was nothing on the products, or even the boxes they were placed in that identified them as Murano products.
This whole experience left us angry and disappointed not only with Murano, but the city of Venice if in fact the city council had anything to do in sponsoring such a scam.

I have purchased glassware and jewelry in the past bearing the Murano name because I trusted the brand. That trust has now completly disappeared.
I am frankly surprised that an organization with the history and renown that Murano claims should have to resort to hustling tourists and literally grabbing them off the street to esll its wares.
Hustling tourists to make a few quick euros in the short run will ultimately hurt the business in the long run, because I and the people I spoke to who a similar negative experience will go back and share our experience with others. This a great example of penny wise and pound foolish marketing.

nasrin sorock/marcus sisk
USA, 22 February 2005

Our Comments:

We do agree with your opinion 100 %! Unfortunately there are many cases like yours that happened already, but it is also true that you still can find
places, galleries and glass shops were you will be met and served with knowledge and competence - you as the customer as well as the glass blowing tradition of Murano.

Since 3 years there is a strong reaction to change this unpleasant
situation. A new trademark has been established that will help to control
the authenticity of Murano production and the City Council has punished with
financial fines the misuse of it by dishonest shop owners. If you have any
doubt of the origin of a glass piece you like, ask for the trademark, which
looks like

Read more about on the web site http://www.muranoglass.com/ and
http://www.promovetro.com/, which is the web site of the consortium for the
promotion of artistic glass from Murano.

As you can read on our home page we offer also visits to Murano workshops
that are usually not open to public and possible to visit only by
appointment. Whether you are a glass collector with profound knowledge of
glass making or an enthusiastic beginner we want to offer the possibility to
really understand how a glass factory works and to watch a professional
Maestro at work.
We understand our offer as a service to glass lovers without any obligation
to pay anything or buy something. Please do not hesitate to contact us by
e-mail to discuss the details!

Yours,
Veronika & Alvise



Top Gallery in the heart of Venice.
In our last trip to Venice, we jumped from one Gallery to the other, as
usually. However, this time we were lucky enough to discover Alvise´s
impressive Gallery. The first class works, which his Gallery contains,
his great knowledge about glass pieces and how kindly he shared it with
us... It was a Highlight of our visit to Venice!

Lukas and Nuria Koellmer
Germany, 21 February 2005

Thanks so much for the tour of Murano. We enjoyed seeing the artists work and appreciate the education we received. Our two pieces have arrived and are a wonderful addition to our art collection.

Susan Rose,
USA,16 october 2003



I like The MANTA.
Thank you.

TOMOHIKO SANO,
JAPAN, 16 October.2003



Very nice!

Sergio,
Italy, 12 April 2003

After visiting several studios and galleries, we accidentally ran into Veronika. The glass speaks for itself; beautiful selection from major Venetian glass artists, displayed sparsely like a gallery not a retail store front. However, Veronika was the reason we purchased two pieces on our first visit. She was informative, but not overbearing or pushy. She knew each of the artists personally and spoke with passion and integrity. We felt secure with our purchases. We have received the first one and it was shipped and tracked promptly and included all the proper documentation on the artist and the glass. I believe the artists are well represented and honest transactions occur.

Diane Zuckerman,
NY, NY, 14 November 2002

Hi Alvise and Veronika,
I'm now back in Melbourne. I just wanted to say hello and say how much I enjoyed meeting you and seeing your gallery. Thanks also to Veronika for looking after me. In regards to the gallery if there is anything I can reasonably do for you over here, please let me know.
With my best wishes,

Tony Pritchard
Australia, 29 August 2002



Liebe Veronika! Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur sehr beeindruckenden Homepage. Man möchte auf der Stelle nach Venedig fahren um Eure Gallery zu besuchen.
Ich freue mich, dass es Dir gut geht, liebe Veronika und grüße Dich herzlich aus Hollabrunn, Waltraud.

Waltraud Schaufler
Hollabrunn, Austria, 25August 2002



Hallo Veronika, hallo Alvise!
Unser Besuch in Eurer Galerie in Venedig hat uns sehr beeindruckt. Vor allem die Vasen von Massimiliano Pagnin haben uns begeistert.
Dank der guten Beratung von Alvise konnten wir für uns die Vase finden, nach der wir schon lange gesucht haben - wir freuen uns jedesmal wenn wir daran vorbeigehen! Die Verziehrung aus Gold hamoniert wunderbar mit dem Lärchenholz und Lehm rundherum!

Georg und Gaby!
Austria, 15 August 2002



Alvise-
just wanted to let you know that we received the information about our art glass piece created by Massimiliano Pagnin. Thank you for mailing it. We had a wonderful Italian vacation, and meeting you and seeing your gallery was one of the highlights. Thank you so much.

Bridget McDonough
Robert Markey
U.S.A., 08 August 2002