Distinction Jewelry – The Blog

The true beauty of top-quality hand blown cane glass, also known as furnace glass, cannot be fully appreciated until you hold a piece of jewelry made with it in your hand.  It has a clear, bright, rich appearance that reminds me of the finest jewels.

There are few producers of top-quality cane glass.  Cheap imitations made in China and elsewhere are readily available and cannot approach the beauty of the real thing, so shop carefully.  Two of the top makers of cane glass are David Christensen and Penrose Design, both in the US. 

For a good description of the intricasies of caneworking and the process involved, check out this Wikipedia article.  Due to the labor, skill, and specialized equipment required to made top-quality cane glass, the beautiful end results are expensive; in fact cane glass is more costly than solid sterling silver.

Glass is often relegated to the lower levels of the jewelry world, associated with cheap strands of dull beads mass-produced in China and shipped in bulk to your local craft store.  But amid the sea of low-quality imitations, there are glass creations worthy of the title of art….or fine jewelry.

This blog series will introduce several types of top-quality glass to look for in your next jewelry purchase:

• Artisan-made lampwork glass
• Dichroic glass
• Murano glass
• Cane glass, also known as furnace glass