As we arrived to Torre del Greco, on the bay of Naples, we had the chance to see the production of one of the hand-made art object typical to this part of Italy, The cameo. The beautiful cameos, jewels carved from seashells, and very prized little treasures.
Cameos are gems form the sea, since they are made of shells. The shells that are most prized for cameos are conch for they are a suited kind for carving work. The carving of a cameo is not easy job, and only an artist of the kind is able to produce the beautiful figures with the most intriguing details that are so specific to the cameos.
The history of the cameo goes way down in history from the Persian and Greco-Roman period. In the 14th and 15th century France, Germany and Flanders were making cameo from mother-of-pearl. Since the 18th century the number of cameo producers has declined, however, and the art of cameo carving can be found in a towns of Germany, Idar-Oberstein and Torre del Greco, Italy. These are the rare places where you can find hand-made cameos in Europe.
Cameos are not only jewels that you can pin on your blouse or wear on a ring, cameos are pure objects of art that people collect, buy, sell and inverst in. Cameos can also make some of the most romantic gifts of great value. To read more details about cameos go to The Italian Cameo-Miniature Masterpieces.