The etymology of the term “conteria” almost certainly derives from the ancient “contigia” which means ornament. Originally the term conteria meant any type of glass bead; it is from the early 1900s that this word is used to indicate pearls that are obtained exclusively from the cut of a perforated
As any myth has it, glass was accidentally discovered in the past millions of years ago around a large fire in the Mesopotamian desert. Fire suddenly transformed opaque and grainy silicon into a different material. The archaeological discovery (polychrome and non-transparent necklaces) somewhere between Mesopotamia and Egypt, is dated to
Dichroic glass is a glass containing micro-layers of metal oxides which give the glass thus treated particular optical properties and an iridescent appearance, exploited for artistic and high-tech purposes. The modern production of dichroic or two-coloured glass is obtained through a multilayer coating process. Quartz crystals and oxides of different
