We have a winner!  The winner of this contest was notified on January 24th and her prize is in the mail.  

From the Rialto Bridge in Venice directly to your door anywhere in the world! Eredi Jovon Venice and OG Venice Travel Guide are so excited to offer our readers a chance at winning this gorgeous cameo.  The winner of this contest will receive this cameo of the Three Graces by Eredi Jovon Venice, a substantial 30mm, 1.2 inches, hand-carved piece set in sterling silver.  It can be worn as a pendent, brooch or used as a very elegant clasp on a pearl necklace. 

Cameos are timeless and very nearly priceless jewels.  Nevertheless, if one were to purchase this one - handmade in the Veneto - it would cost more than 165 euros.  Though that doesn't sound at all unreasonable, it is still exceedingly generous of Eredi Jovon to offer one piece to our readers for free!  Follow the instructions at the end of this post to enter the contest.

The Eredi Jovon definition of a Cameo is:  "A cameo is a piece of art, a part of Italian history, something for life, something that you can use, but also something that shows your taste for elegance and grace". Most readers will agree that cameos are timeless jewels that never go out of style.  We cherish the pieces we inherit and admire those newly created.  They make moving and sentimental gifts of delicate and intricate craftsmanship that tell stories of families, histories and societies.   So many details in such a tiny space!  But what are cameos made of and where do they come from?

A cameo is a relief image, often quite small but highly detailed, carved into multi-layered stone, sea shells, gems, coral, or even glass.  The difference in color between the background and the foreground of a cameo is the result of carving these multi-layered materials to both create the image and also reveal the different colored layer of material underneath.  This creates a natural contrast and enhances the image itself.

Italy has been the epicenter of this art since time immemorial.  The Portland Vase in the British Museum is among the oldest surviving ancient Roman glass cameo pieces.  The "State Cameos" of the Roman Emperor Augustus and his family and court are among the most ancient and famous cameos in the world.   Meanwhile, it is rumored that renaissance Pope Paul II, an avid cameo collector, caught his death of cold due to bedecking his fingers with too many cameos and stones.  Cameos came into vogue throughout Europe during the Elizabethan period of the late 1500's when visitors began bringing them north after visits to Italy. But, they lost none of their luxury standing.  Napoleon wore a cameo to his wedding and presented Empress Josephine with a cameo and pearl tiara which is currently in the possession of the royal family of Sweden and was worn by Crown Princess Victoria to her wedding in 2010.

Cameo jewels are among the longest-enduring styles of precious jewelry, along with bands of silver and gold.  They were originally reserved for royalty, and the exceedingly wealthy, and displayed primarily images of mythological, religious or political figures.  It wasn't until the 19th century that cameo's carved according to an individual's likeness became popular.  They remained quite expensive for some time, and are still coveted and difficult to get even today.  

Many contemporary cameos are machine cut rather than hand-carved.  This is even true for authentic cameos of stone and shell.  However, personalized cameos, such as portraits, are almost always hand-carved.  The costs of retooling a carving machine for only one piece are prohibitively expensive for most producers and customers. 

The artists at Eredi Jovon are among very few in the world who make custom hand-carved cameo portraits.  And, they do so at quite reasonable prices.  Working from photographs or paintings you provide, the Jovons first create a sketch from the image and then hand-carve the image into shell or stone.  Your cameo is then set in either silver or gold, to your specifications, and shipped to your home.  Or, if you are in town, you can pick it up in the shop!  The entire process takes about 6 weeks and in the end you have a precious jewel for yourself and heirloom for your family. You can learn more about this service on their website: www.eredijovon.com. 

The three graces are the daughters of the Zeus, the king of the Gods, and Eurynome, a water nymph. They are the goddesses of beauty, charm and grace whose purpose in the Greek pantheon is to inspire wisdom, love and creativity in the world.  They have indeed inspired artists throughout the ages including Raphael, Botticelli and the Jovon family of jewelers. What better subject for a cameo?  And what better charm, or grace, to wear oneself?!  Would you like to own this treasure?

To enter the contest, complete all of the steps below:

1. "Like" the OG Venice Facebook Page HERE.
2. "Like" the Eredi Jovon Facebook Page HERE.
3. Share this post with the hashtag: #cameofromvenice.  (It does not matter if you share publicly or with only certain friends, only that you do share.)
4. Provide your email address.  The easiest way to do this is to use the contact form below and type "Cameo Contest" in the text box.  The winner will be contacted via email. 

Contest Rules:  This contest is open from Friday January 16th through Friday January 23rd.  (One week only to enter!)  Only one entry per person please!  Multiple entries will be disqualified.  The winner will be chosen at random, using a list randomizer, from among those entrants who have completed all of the steps necessary to enter, and contacted via the email address provided.  We will validate that the steps have been followed and contact the winner by Monday, January 26th. NO PURCHASE is necessary from either Eredi Jovon or OG Venice to enter this contest and making a purchase will not improve your chances of winning.  The email addresses of entrants will be added to the mailing lists of both OG Venice Travel Guide and Eredi Jovon Venice.  We will never share, sell or disclose your contact information and you are free to unsubscribe from these mailing lists at any time.  This contest is open to everyone, everywhere in the world.  The prize will be mailed to your valid shipping address, shipping & handling included.  If the winner does not respond to our email within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen at random.  

Even the most brilliant writers have difficulty finding the words to express the beauty of Venezia.  Perhaps because there is so much beauty, from so many centuries, by so many artists, from so many parts of the world to be found here.  How to express the whole?  How to even see it as a whole?  

The famous Basilica di San Marco is largely composed of looted marble and statues taken during the Venetian sacking of Constantinople.  Among it's treasures, are pieces significant to nearly every religion known to Europe.  Yet, as a whole, it is unquestionably an orthodox basilica and the most famous masterpiece ever made in Venice.  The dashes of irony and tales of blood, lust and thievery only serve to make it more so.  And, as overwhelming as the beauty of that one place can be to both the eyes and mind, it also but one of hundreds of such places in Venice; thousands if one considers the number of beautiful things that are being imagined and built here every day.

Yesterday, during one of the most beauty-filled days I have ever spent in Venice, I passed the morning at Oi Va Voi Studio, the workplace of perhaps the most irreverent and talented contemporary printmaker in Venice. My eyes were assailed from all directions by fantastically detailed visions of satire and irony!  From there I travelled to Decima Musa, another world entirely, where Paola and Giorgia create their bright and whimsical yet impossibly intricate carnival masks and sculptures.  Joy!  On the way there, I met the jeweler Alessandro Palwer whose breathtaking work stopped me dead in my tracks and whose wonderful manner kept me engaged for more than an hour as I gazed at the cool brilliance of his creations.  And finally, yes, I spent two hours of the evening inside of non other than the Basilica di San Marco.

I am not a religious person, nor much of an artist, nor even much of a wordsmith, so I will not try to sum up the beauty that is Venezia.  I will just say that, to me, all that I saw was a powerful reminder that Venice has always been, and remains today, a place where beauty is born.  Here we can see so much of what the minds and hands of people inclined towards placing beauty into the world are capable of creating. 

These are not your Grandma's Mille Fiore, nor are they reproductions of any previously popular designs.  They are exceptional pieces of contemporary handblown Murano glass Jewelry, the kind of unique treasures that will be appreciated by your grandchildren when the time comes to hand them down.  They will be all the more precious because by then, just as with Grandma's Mille Fiore today, authentic pieces in these designs won't be available anymore.

Today, two wonderful shops of Murano Glass artisans are taking the top spots in our Murano Glass Jewelry Section.  They are as unique from each other as true artisan shops must be when the artisans each follow their own inspiration, but they are both fantastic examples what can be achieved when the traditional Venetian craft of lamp work is taken up by contemporary artists.

At Esperienze "Original Creations in Murano Glass", you will find not only a welcome respite from the dull import shops that have come to dominate their neighborhood near Campo San Zulian, but a powerful and refreshing burst of color and light.  The artists Sara Visman and Graziano Vecchiato  do all of their own lamp work and create stunning pieces with amazingly clean lines and upliftingly bright colors.  You will not find pieces like this anywhere else in Venice, nor anywhere else in the world.

At Venetian Dreams di Marisa Convento, you will find impossibly delicate looking and yet substantial necklaces incorporating an impossible variety of beads.  Marisa commissions lamp work from a small consortium of female Murano glass makers and then uses her own fantasy to combine them with authentic vintage murano glass beads.  The results are highly detailed, multi-colored and very feminine pieces fit for a princess.  

If you're lucky, you will also find Marisa herself!  Though she modestly won't call herself an "expert" in the history of Murano glass jewelry, she is very knowledgeable on the subject and delights in the history of this craft in all it's different styles and forms.  When you purchase a piece from Venetian Dreams, Marisa can share with you a history of each bead in your necklace, each type of Murano glass it contains and the history of the creation of the colors of glass used in the pieces.  

I enjoyed meeting both Marisa and Sara this morning.  Not only are they lovely people, they are wonderful artists whose work re-affirms that contemporary Venetian art need not mimic the past because the contemporary artists here are still among the best in the world.