Antique Venetian Florato Wedding Cake beads 20"

This necklace belonged to my grandmother. I remember her wearing it out to dinner at the Admiral Kidd Club. My grandfather, who absolutely adored her, used to joke that he had commissioned these Venetian Glass beads to match the blue skies Nana loved so much. Nana would laugh and relate the true story of how my grandfather had taken her to Venice on their 50th Anniversary in 1970, and bought her these and several other sets of beads when he heard their decorative style was known as "wedding cake." They were married 62 1/2 years, had their love was an inspiration to their two sons, 7 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. This necklace is really lovely. Each bead is a work of art with pink roses, soft green leaves & sparkling gold bands and flourishes. Wedding cake beads, also known as florato beads, are lampworked, which is the most labor intensive type of Venetian bead. with each handmade bead overlayed with induvidual layers of colored glass to create the lovely patterns. Small golden yellow glass beads act as spacers. I have examined each bead and there is NO damage. 20" My grandmother was a nonsmoker, as is her granddaughter. So this has always been stored in smoke-free environments. Please check out my other jewelry and decorative items. I am an artist & writer, and make most of these pieces (not this one) and decorative items to augment my retirement income.