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What's the difference between these words? It seems to me that вещь is more abstract than штука, except when we talk about furniture or clothing. Is this correct. The old meaning of штука is часть so maybe it retains the meaning of a whole thing, whereas вещь is just a substance, idea, concept, etc (from вещество)?
Could somebody give some examples to clarify the difference?
If we omit several totally different meanings which these word may have (e.g. "штука" = slang "thousand", "вещь" = "work of art" etc.) then "вещь" stands for "a thing" in a wide sense (although note that sometimes word "предмет" is preferred over "вещь"), while "штука" denotes a countable item. So usually the word "штука" is used along with a numeral.
Probably the source of your confusion is the fact that in a live speech people may use word "штука" as synonym for "вещь" (thing). But such usage is considered a colloquialism.
Those words have slightly different meanings. 1. Word "штука" and its derivatives "штучка", "штуковина" means basically "thing", and usually is used when author do not know correct term for the thing e.g. name of tool or a part of machinery: "Я взял у него эту штуку". It also means "piece" in "3 штуки" (3 pieces). 2. "Вещь" is more formal and beside of main meaning "thing" has couple of others: "piece of clothing", "work of art"
