In Venice, Jewelers Try to Revive Their Businesses

The lack of tourists during the pandemic may have made the city more livable, but empty streets don’t buy jewelry.

Venice has endured war, plague and conquest in its 1,200 years as Queen of the Adriatic, but after the last two years, many of its jewelers are struggling to stay open. On Nov. 12, 2019, more than 85 percent of the 120 islands that make up the city were inundated with as much as six feet of water, a result of high tides and a storm surge driven by strong winds. Leslie Ann Genninger, a glass jewelry artisan whose studio is in the Dorsoduro neighborhood, said her display tables were submerged. “The glass was broken so I had to redo about 80 or 90 percent of the pieces,” which took eight months, she said. Water was knee-deep in St. Mark’s Square, forcing the Nardi jewelry shop there to close for two months.