To Estlinclichy: thanks for the wonderful photographs of Venice and especially those photos of the two men who made two of the paperweights you bought. Their pride in their work is so obvious. In fact, looking at their smiling faces gave me goosebumps. One day I hope to visit Venice and Murano and plan on bringing a goodly sum to buy some quality paperweights, similar to what you were lucky to find.
I have 112 paperweights in my collection, which includes work from Canada, the U.S., England, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, and Poland. I have no Chinese paperweights and won't. I see Chinese weights at every turn in shops and flea markets and they are terribly inferior to everything else. The Italians are right to reject them. In Robert G. Hall's fine book "World Paperweights: Millefiori & Lampwork," he has photos of shocking copies made by unscrupulous Chinese glass workers of paperweights including those made by Yaffa Sikorsky-Todd and Jeffrey M. Todd, Baccarat, and others. I find this form of copyright violation to be reprehensible.
True paperweight collectors should never endorse this kind of violation and should reject Chinese work until it becomes unique and original. Estlinclichy's comment about saving one's money to purchase legitimate paperweights from glassmakers who work with honor is absolutely correct.