7-Layer Chevron Glass Necklace (detail)

Four years after Columbus discovered the new world, America hadn’t caught on yet and Europe was still the center of a curious, vibrant culture. 1496 was a leap year, and in Italy, scientists, inventors and artists were making leaps of their own. Leonardo da Vinci tested his first flying machine; Pietro Bembo published a book in a stylized typeface which to this day is known as Bembo; and in Venice, an anonymous glass artist invented the Chevron, a bead destined to become one of the most sought after types of adornment the world has ever known.

Beaded Chevron Glass Necklace, Venice Italy

Featured is a necklace fashioned from eleven large, seven layer chevron beads. Of all

Chevron’s, those with seven layers are considered the rarest. They were so valuable when they were created, members of the Venetian glass making guild were forbidden from divulging their trade secrets upon penalty of death; and they continue to be valuable today, although we need not worry about penalties.

Chevrons were traded as far away as the Americas, where Christopher Columbus introduced them shortly after their creation; however, the vast majority made their way to the African continent – the greatest repository of European beads - where scholars later traced trade routes by their appearance. They were worn by kings and chiefs and traded for ivory and gold, and always, they symbolized a high station for those who possessed them. Today, they symbolize a different sort of station; a place where fashion, beauty, and meaning mingle with history - and endure in value when they move on.

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