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When thinking about Murano glass you hardly ever associate it to sunglasses. Lately some designers and producers in other fields have started to use Murano glass going beyond its traditions like for example on shoes. An interesting example is Q by Pasquale: http://bit.ly/IwjphX
But sunglasses? You might think, that there must be some modern freak who is trying to find a way to use Murano glass on some fancy, cool, fashion like sunglasses for the Hollywood stars. Nothing of all this. It is about sunglasses who were produced with Murano green glass on the island before 1870, when the UV rays were discovered!
It looks like somebody in Murano in the 18th century had the idea to cover the eyes of the noble Venetian ladies, in order to be protected from the sun, with the so called «Vetri da Gondola o Vetri da Dama», which was kind of a round mirror with handle and lenses made of green Murano glass.
The first person to actually talk and write about these bizzare objects is Madame Alfred Haymann in a book of 1911 called "Lunettes et Lorgnettes de Jadis" as «Gondola sunglasses made of green glass to protect the sight from reflections. Venice 18th Century».
It is interesting to know that these green glasses from the 18th century, if analyzed with a modern spectrophotometer show that they really protect from UV rays with high precision.
It is not a legend, but a true story. To know more about it visit the "Museo dell'Occhiale" of Pieve di Cadore, one of the Italian sunglasses production headquarters, where you can admire five of these outstanding Murano glass sunglasses in a special exhibition called «Pararse i Oci nella Venezia del ’700» (Protecting the Eyes in 18th Century Venice) until 30th November 2012.
Via Aida Guemati
