Shopping in Venice
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Camuffo
Kids, entomologists and glass collectors troop over the bridge, under the portico and into the second calle (alleyway) on the left to arrive at the city’s finest selection of lampworked glass beetles and dragonflies. With a miniature blowtorch and the patience of a saint, Signor Camuffo adds metallic foils to molten glass to make shimmering wings. Between bugs, he’ll chat about his work and sell you strands of Murano glass beads at excellent prices.
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Gloria Astolfo
Take your fashion cues from Venetian painting masterpieces at this Venetian bead artisan’s showcase. Garlands of beaded tiger lilies make open-necked T-shirts instantly glamorous, and those baroque pearl earrings would gently tickle your shoulders if you started to nod off at La Fenice. Prices starting at €35 are surprisingly down-to-earth for jewellery this original, especially so close to Piazza San Marco.
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Schegge
Go incognito in style, with highly original masquerade masks revealing influences as diverse as Gothic architecture and Modigliani. Well into the night, you’ll find this dedicated mother-daughter team wielding tiny paintbrushes, coaxing minute baroque tendrils into bloom along the side of a Klimt mask.
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Banco 10
Prison orange is out and plum silk velvet is in at this nonprofit boutique: all those sumptuous high-fashion velvet tailcoats and cocktail dresses were created as part of a job retraining program at the women’s prison on Giudecca. La Fenice has dressed its divas in ensembles made through this program, which uses opulent silks, velvets and tapestry, donated by Fortuny and Bevilaqua for smartly tailored jackets and handbags designed by women inmates. Volunteers run the boutique, and purchases fund the women prisoners’ continuing career training and reintegration into society after their release.
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Gianni Basso
All the advertising Signor Basso needs for his letter-pressing services are the calling cards crowding his small front window with familiar names and fitting symbols. Restaurant critic Gale Greene’s title is framed by a knife and fork; prolific mystery writer Scott Turow’s name balances atop a pile of books; and Hugh Grant’s moniker appears next to a surprisingly tame lion. Bring cash if you want to commission your own business cards, menus or invitations, and trust him to deliver via post if need be – his posted hours aren’t always accurate.
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Veneziastampa
The squeak and grind of the old Heidelberg press in action is a thrilling throwback to another time, when postcards were gorgeously lithographed, custom bookplates gently reminded book borrowers of their rightful owners and Casanovas invited dates upstairs to ‘look at my etchings’. Pick up original hand-stamped stationery with your choice of potent, yet ambiguous, symbols – a muscled arm, a leaking faucet, an ostrich plume – or invitation cards and posters with spry commedia dell’arte figures, by local artists.
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Le Forcole di Saverio Pastor
Mick Jagger had his forcola made to measure here – and no, that’s not as naughty as it sounds. A forcola is a forked tongue of wood where the gondola oar rests, hand-carved from acacia and hard oak, and each one must be made to match a gondolier’s exact height and weight so as not to upset a gondola’s delicate balance. Sounds like a job for Saverio Pastor, who makes forcole that twist and lean in perfect balance – ideal for budding gondoliers, or as customised sculpture.
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Marina e Susanna Sent
Statement jewellery has taken over Milan runways, but the iced-glass waterfall necklaces produced by pioneering sister glass artisans Marina and Susanna Sent are show-stoppers. Museum shops around Venice feature their work, including the striped glass brooches in the shape of the shield of Fortitude from the Palazzo Ducale and their signature ‘soap’ necklaces: frothy strands of big, clear glass bubbles that make the wearer look both stylish and freshly scrubbed. There’s also a branch at Ponte San Moisè.
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Antiquariato Claudia Canestrelli
Sunburst mirrors and hand-coloured lithographs of prehistoric-looking lagoon fish are charming souvenirs of Venice’s bygone glories, but collector and artisan Claudia Canestrelli is bringing back baroque elegance with her repurposed-antique earrings. Claudia collects stray glass-mosaic roses, winking citrines and freeform baroque pearls from broken diadems, and refashions them into one-of-a-kind heirloom pieces with a romantic, modern sensibility – her earrings would look just as striking worn with jeans or ball gowns.
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Sigfrido Cipolato
Booty worthy of pirate royalty is displayed in this fishbowl-sized window display: a constellation of diamonds in star settings on a ring, a tiny enamelled green snake sinking its fangs into a pearl and diamond drop earrings that end in enamelled gold skulls. Though they look like heirlooms, these small wonders were worked on the premises by master jeweller Sigfridio – and you’ll pay half the price here than you would at the high-end jewellery showrooms near San Marco which carry Cipolato’s work.
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Mosaico!
Marta Bertaggia plies Venice’s ancient artisan trade with similar tools used for San Marco’s mosaics a millennium ago: a tiny hammer and rods of raw glass. The glass is gently tapped into square tesserae (small tiles) and painstakingly set into shimmering mosaic vases, mirror frames, a stunning masquerade mask, the lion of San Marco heraldic emblem and careful recreations of Egon Schiele paintings. Custom pieces can be commissioned here too, so you can capture your own mosaic memory of Venice.
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Nave De Oro
Wine is as important to life for Venetians as water and a fine take-home tradition persists in Venice for tipplers unable or unwilling to spend on big labels. These wine-stores are crammed with huge glass damigiane (demijohns). From these monsters, each containing a sea of modest Veneto table wine, you make a choice and have it poured into whatever you bring - used wine or mineral-water bottles, it's up to you. You will be charged per litre. There are many branches of this chain around.
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Cartè
Gondola wakes and lagoon ripples mysteriously appear on hand-bound portfolios and paper necklaces, thanks to the steady hands and restless imagination of marble-paper maestra Rosanna Corrò. After years restoring ancient Venetian manuscripts and books, Rosanna decided to work on making something entirely original, and here you have it: bookbound purses in woodgrain designs, swirling yellow Op art earrings, and photo albums in opulent peacock-eye patterns to showcase your best Venice photos.
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Il Pavone di Fabio Pelosin
Baccalà mantecato (Venice’s signature fish pâté) is bound to come out better when captured in a handmade recipe book stamped with Venetian Gothic architectural patterns. Il Pavone’s recipe books, travel logs and day planners are printed with traces of metallic pigments, but don’t just judge them by their shimmering covers. Inside they’re well organised with tabs and headings for meal planning, trip highlights and upcoming birthdays.
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Al Canton del Vin
Wine is as important to life for Venetians as water and a fine take-home tradition persists in Venice for tipplers unable or unwilling to spend on big labels. These wine-stores are crammed with huge glass damigiane (demijohns). From these monsters, each containing a sea of modest Veneto table wine, you make a choice and have it poured into whatever you bring - used wine or mineral-water bottles, it's up to you. You will be charged, on average, around €2 per litre.
reviewed
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Cantina del Canton
Wine is as important to life for Venetians as water and a fine take-home tradition persists in Venice for tipplers unable or unwilling to spend on big labels. These wine-stores are crammed with huge glass damigiane (demijohns). From these monsters, each containing a sea of modest Veneto table wine, you make a choice and have it poured into whatever you bring - used wine or mineral-water bottles, it's up to you. You will be charged, on average, around €2 per litre.
reviewed
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Drogheria Mascari
Ziggurat-shaped piles of cayenne, leaning towers of star anise and ranks of estate-grown olive oils attract crowds of awestruck foodies to Drogheria Mascara’s windows. Indoors, customers clutch tiny jars of white truffles like holy relics, and staff help dazed first-timers navigate the selection of Sicilian capers and 50 kinds of aromatic honeys. For memorable small-production Italian wines starting at €7, don’t miss the backroom enoteca (wine bar).
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Ottica Vascellari
Second-generation opticians and first-class eyewear stylists, the Vascellari family intuit eyewear needs with a glance at your prescription and a long look to assess your face shape and personal style. Angular features demand Vascellari’s signature bold architectural eyewear line with two-tone laminates, delicate features are set off with sleek satin-finish specs, and fabulous gold-rimmed sunglasses will have the crowds parting for you at the Venice Film Festival.
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Davinia Design
Less is more at this working studio of simple, dramatic Murano brick-red glass pendants and cufflinks that look like tiny sea urchins clinging to your wrists. You’ll usually find transplanted Belgian artisan Davinia at work here fashioning clever, understated daisy stud earrings that look more elegant but cost less than flowery fantasias you’ll find around Piazza San Marco – there’s a good range from €19 to €37.
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Daniela Ghezzo
A gold chain is pulled across the doorway, but not because Daniela is out: she’s chatting with a customer about shoe preferences while taking foot measurements. In the atelier once run by the legendary Segalin-family cobblers, maestra Ghezzo continues the tradition of custom-making every pair to measure, so you’ll never see your oxblood ankle boots on another art collector, or your Florentine brown wingtips on a rival titan of industry.
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Madera
Double-takes are a given at this modern design showcase, where wooden spoons look like tongues, elegant pasta bowls are made of recycled plastic bags and teapots in foam-rubber tea cosies look like they’re wearing scuba gear. Most pieces are by owner-designer Francesca Meratti and other Italian designers, with some Scandinavian and Japanese influences, in a well-curated collection of original design objects starting at €15.
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Gmeiner
London, Paris, Toyko: Gabriele Gmeiner honed her shoemaking craft in sartorial centres around the globe, and jet-setters now seek out her hidden Venice workshop for ultrasleek Oxfords with hidden ‘bent’ seams and brogues minutely detailed with hand-stitching, all made to measure for men and women. If Gabriele’s not stitching on-site, she’s probably at the women’s prison on Giudecca, where she leads a job training program in shoe design.
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Antica Modisteria Giuliana Longo
Shoe closets are for amateurs: Giuliana’s shop is the dream hat-cupboard of any true sartorialist, with styles that range from handmade Montecristi panama hats with an extra-fine weave to a modern hot-pink felt number that looks like a doge’s cap for Peggy Guggenheim. Giuliana is here most days, polishing leather aviator hats or affixing a broad band to a bareteri, the wide-brimmed gondolier’s hat best worn with a rakish tilt.
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Fanny
Quit snickering about the name – when that Venice chill hits your extremities, you’ll be seriously glad you found this trove of local artisan-crafted leather gloves. No need to sacrifice style for warmth here: check out the cashmere-lined chocolate pair with ice-blue piping, or those polka-dotted purple numbers. At these prices, you may have to upgrade to that square cherry-red leather tote bag to haul around your glove purchases.
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Margerie
Big silver studs wind their way over the smooth, stout leather in sky-blue or blood-red handbags. Some are shaped like fish or hearts, others are cuddly soft, still more are draped in great golden ribbons. Flower motifs abound. A key note is the almost childlike happy feeling they exude and much the same can be said of the chunky necklaces (again often with big, bright flowers, or even pompoms) and stuffed felt pins with sequins.
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