Aventurine is a precious glass of blue color, enriched with copper inclusions that give it a distinctive sparkling effect. Its origins date back to the early 17th century, attributed to Venetian glassmakers. Currently, this material is mainly used in the creation of art objects and is appreciated for its ability to reflect light in a unique way.

It is said that in the 17th century, the name “aventurine” derived from the term “avventura,” which indicates an uncertain and risky operation. Indeed, Venetian glassmakers, who first produced aventurine, did so by accident, by spilling fragments of copper into a blue glass paste. Starting from 1644, the manufacturing technique was codified, and Venetian aventurine artifacts soon became the most appreciated of the time. The lithograph precisely depicts a visit of the Doge to the workshops on the island of Murano, the production district of this glass.

Aventurine is a challenging material to tame, precisely because of the copper fragments inserted into the molten glass, which arrange themselves uniformly during the slow cooling process. To create components with a high degree of precision, aventurine is cold-cut, as if it were a hard stone. Today, the production of this material is still very limited precisely because of its complexity and the significant know-how required.