220 Tons of Venetian Beads

Well I always thought we had the largest inventory of Venetian Beads, but boy was I wrong.

 

We were recently contacted by the owners of the last of the seed bead produced in Murano. The good news is there are plenty of them, 220 tons, many of them never out of the shipping boxes.  Nevermind that most people buy their seed bead in little vials of about 1 ounce or less.  Can you calculate the value of this? 

 

Curious beyond belief, I just had to talk to them. I remembered that when La Societia delle Conterier closed a company in the US bought the remaining stock.  I thought it had long since been made into great jewelry.

 

So here's the story:

When Societa' Veneziana Conterie, closed in 1992, the remains of the inventory were sold. One American company bought the final inventory and had it shipped to South Dakota.

 

The Sioux Trading Post aquired an amazing quantity of beads. I can only imagine their shock when they saw how many beads were in the shipment. The beads were shipped by container and traveled from Venice to South Dakota.

 

The company has now decided to sell the balance of the inventory, and are looking for one buyer for the entire lot. We asked our friends in Venice and all agreed they could be sold easily there, but the problem is the shipping and a place to store the goods. It's a real pity they can't go back!

 

Here's a few facts on the beads available:

206,213 Kilograms or 453,692 Pounds

 

We buy our seed bead in 25 Kilo boxes and 100 kilo takes roughly a 3x3x4 or 36 Cubic Feet Space. Given those dimensions, 206,213 Kilo would require 2,063 (3x3 Spaces) or one gigantic store room. Of the 220 tons of beads, less than half have ever been opened, coded and prepared to sell.

 

Here's a picture and if you are interested, we can give you the name of the contact for buying the beads.