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Jean’s Bee Jewelry
You may have noticed the bee earrings and bee necklace Jean often wears when she is speaking to groups about the art of beekeeping. The whimsical little bees are made of handblown glass by artisans in the Czech Republic.
The Czechs have been making glass for centuries. In fact, the earliest known glass beads date back to the Celts in the Early Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC). In the 1600s Jablonec, a city in the northern part of the Czech Republic (just below the present day border with Germany and Poland) developed into a world renowned glassmaking center. Sadly the Czech Republic was hidden behind the Iron Curtain from 1938, when the Nazis invaded the country, until 1989. Their glass was thus hidden and forgotten by the world. In 1989 The Berlin Wall came down, setting off a chain of events that lead to the Czech Republic overthrowing its Communist government in favor of a democratically elected government. This turning point in Czech history is called the Velvet Revolution because no blood was shed. Shortly thereafter, the former Czechoslovakia separated into two countries, Slovakia to the east and the Czech Republic to the west, an event dubbed the Velvet Divorce. From this point forward the Czechs began to re-emerge onto the world stage with their incredibly beautiful and artistic glass.
Jablonec continues to be a world leader in glass to this day and is the source for Jean’s beautiful bee jewelry. The bee necklace was originally designed as children’s jewelry, but as you can see grown ups have a lot of fun wearing it! Other handblown charms include a blue kitty cat, a yellow Mr. Sunshine, and a red ladybug. Please visit Global Handcrafted Jewelry for this and other charming children’s glass jewelry. In addition you can see many other gorgeous pieces of Czech glass jewelry, all at very affordable prices.
Submitted by Carol Wilson. Click here to see more of Carol's Jewelry.
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