Description
Eye Keep Murano Glass Sterling Silver Collection
We are a small Irish family business creating luxury handcrafted accessories that tell a story. All our products are handmade in our studios in Dublin using the finest quality materials. Our handmade eyeglass holders known as Eye Keeps addressing the problem of where to keep your glasses when not on your face. The Murano Glass and Irish Sterling Silver Eye Keep is a piece of functional jewellery worn around the neck like a necklace with a ring for your glasses to sit safely through so that they are close to hand at all times. In reality, it is a necklace for eyewear.
The Eye Keep is ideal for anyone who wears reading or occupational glasses and perfect for your sunglasses. Our Eye Keeps come in everyday casual wear where we have cord eyeglass holders, to high-end jewellery pieces to include beaded eyeglass holders and pearl eyeglass holders, so there is one to suit all occasions. They come in a wide range of colours too. The Eye Keep comes with a velvet pouch.
We love and appreciate the story behind each of our products and want to share that with you. so. As a result, we have taken the time to select the right materials to make each one of our Eye Keeps so that you can experience today, that small piece of history that existed long ago.
Our Murano Glass Bead Eye Keep is made from the finest Venetian coloured glass beads rolled in silver foil and an Irish Sterling Silver ring to keep and hold your glasses. Colour, Pink and Blue
Our Products
At Woods & Byrne we use 925 Sterling Silver in all of our Eye Keeps Silver collections. Each handcrafted piece features the stamp of the Dublin Assay Office. This is your guarantee of quality craftsmanship and quality materials. Dublin Assay Office
There are different purity levels of silver
Fine silver or .999 level of purity. This is pure silver and lustrous. It is also very soft and not very suitable for jewellery.
Sterling silver or 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. This silver must contain 92.5% pure silver to be called sterling silver. Sterling silver is used in jewellery and tableware.
Silver-plate on the other hand is a thin layer of pure silver plated over a base metal. This is a more affordable option to the more expensive forms of solid silver.
A little piece of history…
Murano Glass
Venetian glass has been made for over 1500 years. It has a long history of innovations in glassmaking in addition to its artistic fame.
Its production has been mainly concentrated on the island of Murano off the coast of Venice since the 13th century. Most of the buildings were made of wood and the furnaces were a fire-hazard. As a result glass making was moved to the island of Murano to prevent Venice from burning down, the industry and the glassmakers were moved to the island of Murano.
However, another reason the glass industry was moved off the mainland was to keep the secrets of glassblowing safe. The Venetian Government did not want any of their expertise leaking out to any potential competitor. This was an extremely profitable business.
Glassmakers were highly skilled individuals and enjoyed a heightened social status. They were however, not allowed to leave the island without permission from the Government. Leaving the island without permission or revealing trade secrets to competitors was punishable by death.
Art glass is what Murano is best known for today. It is made up of rich colours and often has silver or gold leaf inside
Sterling Silver
In the beginning… According to a study published in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics in September 2012, silver, like gold formed in stellar outbursts called supernovae. The study found that exploding smaller stars produced silver while the bigger stars produced gold. These metals exploded onto the Earth.
Silver has a long history. The first evidence of silver mining dates back to 3000 BC to Turkey and Greece. Today most of the world’s supplies of silver comes from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia.
In Ireland, the Silvermines in Co. Tipperary is unique amongst Irish mines for two reasons. Firstly, it contains argentiferous lead and commercial amounts of copper, zinc, barytes and sulphur. Secondly, for its longevity. Mining at Silvermines dates back as far as 1298 when Italian miners came in search of silver. The last working mine was closed in 1993.
Silver has many applications and uses as well as in making jewellery, coins and tableware. Silver is used for making mirrors as it is the best reflector of light. It is also used in electronic and electrical circuits. And it played a big role in making early photography possible. What you may not know is that silver also has antibacterial properties. Silver nanoparticles are used in clothing to stop bacteria digesting sweat and producing unpleasant odours.
Dimensions
Approx 64cm long ( lengths may vary slightly as all are hand made to order)
25mm Sterling Silver Ring
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