| What exactly is sea glass?
Sea glass is glass (usually bottles
and jars), but can be any kind or color of glass that found it's
way into the water (Sea, Ocean, Bay, etc.) and washes back up on beaches
as a smooth and frosted piece of sea glass. Another way of putting
it is that Sea Glass usually starts out as refuse glass that was whole
or broken then discarded into the sea. However, ship wrecks supply
fine china, ceramic bottles and the like that was never refuse.
It takes years of being slowly worn
and polished by the ocean's waves and currents as they drag these pieces
of broken glass through sand, seashells and stones much like the action
of a very big "rock tumbler." Yet the glass is transformed as powerful
elements of sand, tide, water & weather rub the glass shard over time
& terrain. It is transformed during its journey back to land;
sanded, smoothed, hydrated & finally renewed into a gem.
Sea glass is a timeless treasure.
The journey a piece takes may have begun decades or centuries before it
was found.
Colors
Some sea glass colors demand very
high prices to jewelers and collectors alike such as "Extremely Rare" Orange
& Red not to mention the lovely Cobalt and Cornflower Blues, Purples,
Pinks, Yellows and the Aquas! It's like taking a piece of the Ocean and
beach home with you!
The color of sea glass is determined
by its original source. Most sea glass comes from bottles, but it can also
comes from jars, plates, windows, windshields, glasses, art, flasks, containers,
and any glass sources that have wound up in the ocean.
The most common colors of sea glass
are kelly green, brown, and clear. These colors come the bottles used by
companies like Heineken, Sprite, Canada Dry, Clorox, Anheuser-Busch, and
others. The clear or white glass comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields,
windows, and assorted other sources.
Less common colors include jade,
amber (from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early Clorox bottles),
golden amber (mostly used for spirit bottles), lime green (from soda bottles
during the 1960s), forest green, and soft blue (from soda bottles, medicine
bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 1800s and early 1900s,
windows, and windshields.) These colors are found about once for every
25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.
Uncommon colors of sea glass include
sea foam, which comes primarily from early to mid 1900's Coca-Cola, Dr
Pepper, and RC Cola bottles, as well as beer bottles. Soft green colors
could come from bottles that were used for ink, fruit, and baking soda.
These colors are found once in every 50 to 100 pieces.
Purple sea glass is very uncommon,
as is citron, opaque white (from milk bottles), cobalt and cornflower blue
(from early Milk of Magnesia bottles, poison bottles, artwork, and Bromo-Seltzer
and Vicks VapoRub containers), and aqua (from Ball Mason jars and 19th
century glass bottles.) These colors are found once for every 200 to 1,000
pieces found.
Rare and extremely rare colors include
pink sea glass (used for plates during the Great Depression),
gray sea glass, teal sea glass (from
Mateus wine bottles and other places),
black sea glass, which is rarely
found, and not actually black but a very dark green/ olive green
sea glass from as early as the 1600's, made into bottles for wine, gin
and other liquids.
 Note
from Phil's website guy: I personally found a large piece of black
sea glass on a shore line famous for it's ship wrecks on Great Abaco
Island, Bahamas. It is thick and heavy, shaped like a large shark
tooth, and black, until you hold it to a bright light or the Sun, then
you can see the green shine through. I am told it is from the 1600
to 1700's, and was more than likely from an old wine bottle. Phil
turned my black sea glass into a work of art that I will forever treasure.
Let Phil turn your piece of sea glass into a beautiful sea glass necklace!
Call Phil at 410-924-4461 for details.
yellow sea glass (mostly from Vaseline
containers and used in the Depression era),
turquoise sea glass (from tableware
and art glass),
red sea glass (found once in every
5,000 pieces),
and orange sea glass (the least common
type of sea glass, found once in 10,000 pieces.) These colors are found
once for every 1,000 to 10,000 pieces collected.
Called many things, sea glass, beach
glass, mermaids tears, lucky glass, ocean glass and sea gems, they are
all beautiful and make incredible jewelry.
Beware of Artificial "Sea Glass"
Sea glass can also be produced artificially
by using a rock tumbler, and some companies sell artificially produced
sea glass to tourists or make jewelry from it. As littering is increasingly
discouraged, authentic sea glass becomes harder and harder to find and
artificial sea glass is sometimes fraudulently advertised as authentic.
Rock tumbled glass is not the same as sea glass, since long term exposure
to water conditions creates an etched surface on the glass that cannot
be duplicated artificially. The differences can be distinguished microscopically.
Sea glass collectors claim that the
term "sea glass" should be reserved for authentic specimens, and artificial
sea glass should be termed "craft glass".
Natural Sea Glass
True vintage, pitted sea glass, naturally
tumbled for decades. The frosting and pitting is a natural occurrence which
a mechanized or chemical method cannot accurately reproduce.
After a lifetime of tumbling, the
colorful jewel washes up on the shore and waits to be discovered.
With the passage of time, sea glass
is becoming more rare and more difficult to find. Because of environmental
concerns, people aren't using glass as much any more and are not throwing
it as trash into our oceans.
That factor mixed with the reality
that glass is, on some beaches around the globe, becoming pummeled as small
as fine sand. There will never be a time in history for sea glass
like today.
Some sea glass finds truly have become
nature's recycled gems. The sea glass journey is also one of intrigue,
enchantment and sometimes even archeology. The vintage glass may
have once been a piece of a colored bottle, vase or even a schooner's lantern
glass, washed up after a shipwreck.
Identifying sea glass creates a challenge
between history's truths and one's imagination. How far has it traveled?
What hands have held it. How long has it been sojourning at sea?
With the rapid erosion of our shorelines,
many of the planet's oldest and most wonderful pieces are either lost to
the depths of the ocean or are awaiting a great storm to stir them beach
ward.
Sea Glass Quality
Sea glass quality can vary greatly
from piece to piece. Environmental conditions, water pH, amount of
time in the water and even tide movement can effect the surface and texture
of sea glass. The individual quality of a piece is rated on
several factors:
Overall smoothness
Frostiness of surface
Color rarity
Shape & Size
Sea Glass Jewelry (sea glass jewelry)
by Phil Lambert is stunning! A one of a kind piece of unique, wearable
art. Phil's original sea glass jewelry designs are created by hand
in an effort to maintain the integrity of the amazing natural sea glass
gems.
Each piece is created with authentic
sea glass (sea glass) also known as beach glass (beach glass) that was
collected for years along the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland, by Phil and several
friends. Included in his collection are rare sea glass finds
from the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Florida Keys, Miami coast, the Hawaii, Honduras,
and more coastal areas.
Each piece of sea glass jewelry comes
with a "Certificate of Authenticity" card signed by Phil that tells the
story of each work of art. Phil uses only authentic, natural and
unaltered sea glass and other treasures from the sea.
Sea glass used in Phil's designs
are considered chic top jewelry quality sea glass. Items are priced
at $35 - $225. Phil has a line of Sea Glass Jewelry designed and
priced with today's economy in mind. All natural sea glass!
SEA GLASS
Genuine sea or beach glass, as it
is referred to, is produced by discarded glass that has been naturally
tumbled by surf and sand. Due to littering laws and the use of plastic
and cans it has become more and more difficult to find. Like anything
else due to it's lack of availability it's value has appreciated.
Very rare colors include red, turquoise, aqua, cobalt blue, pastels like
yellow, pink, peach etc. Sea foam, which is very popular has become
available because of it's beautiful color, once a coke bottle has turned
to a beautiful shade of green. the most common colors are browns,
whites and emerald green. Don't be fooled! There are products that
say sea glass jewelry or beach glass jewelry that are not authentic sea
glass. Usually, if the glass is uniformly cut and colors are rare
and there is a lot of it, it probably is not authentic. Recycled glass
and man made glass have been called sea glass or beach glass, but they
are not authentic.
If you walk along the shore of a
lake or an ocean, you will find hidden amidst the sand, rocks, pebbles
and shells that litter the shoreline, small bits of glass which have been
polished smooth and rounded over many years by the action of the wind,
the sand and the sea. These bits of glass are called beach glass
or sea glass or even mermaid tears. It takes a very long time of
searching to collect even a few pounds of sea glass.
Genuine Beach Sea Glass
Originating from discarded bottles
and tableware, or glass from shipwrecks and household items lost in natural
disasters.
Quantities of some colors are severely
limited. As noted above, colors such as orange, red, yellow, cobalt
blue, purple, turquoise, "black", and Vaseline are very rare. Genuine
sea glass in these colors is normally never sold by the pound.
Sea glass is often hydrated and may
have a frosty surface, appearing crystalline in structure. Hydration
is a slow process where the lime and soda in glass is leached out by the
constant contact with water, leaving variable pitting on the surface of
the glass. The soda and lime can combine with other elements to form
tiny crystals in the surface of the glass. Many good specimens will
sparkle in the light. It is impossible to duplicate this process
with out actually allowing nature to take its course over several years.
Small patterns may emerge on the
surface of the sea glass and small hair line cracks may develop on some
pieces from the tide.
Natural tumbling - in some areas
such as sandy beaches, the tumbling may be very even making the sea glass
well rounded and nearly uniform in shape.
Sea glass may frequently be composed
of identifiable bottle necks, bottle bottoms lettering and other unusual
shapes and distinguishing features such as mug handles and so forth.
Sea glass continues to go up in price
as supplies dwindle (littering is discouraged) and more and more people
become collectors. Recent years have seen two books on sea glass
come out, C. S. Lambert's Sea Glass Chronicles and most recently Pure Sea
Glass, written by Richard LaMotte.
Artificial Sea Glass
Originating from either a factory,
workshop or rock tumbler (in rare occurrences people bring premature sea
glass home to finish it off in a rock tumbler). Craft glass may be
made from sheets of glass which are cut up and tossed into a rock tumbler
or acid bath. Craft glass can also come from recycled glass bottles.
Some who are a bit more particular will actually seek out old bottles which
to then turn into tumbled craft glass.
Nearly all colors are readily available
in quantity and pricing between colors is fairly consistent. Since
one does not cost more than the other to produce it's a sure sign of artificial
sea glass.
To duplicate the hydration process
that genuine beach sea glass undergoes, many manufacturers will etch the
glass in an acid bath after tumbling it. Improperly rinsed, the glass may
still contain some acid residue which can be toxic. Some large craft
stores that carry tumbled craft glass caution you against using it in your
aquarium and to avoid excessive handling. This type of tumbled glass is
often used in the floral industry in vases to support flowers.
Etched glass has a satiny appearance
and will be very uniform in its finish. It will be devoid of any
small "C" shaped patterns on the surface, (which may occur on genuine beach
sea glass).
Tumbled glass is often quite rough
on the edges. If it is well worn the pieces in the lot will usually
be small yet very similar in the overall degree of tumbling.
Many times tumbled craft glass comes
in large chunky amorphous shapes, and sometimes it comes as nearly uniform
squares and triangles. If it is recycled glassware such as bottles,
odds are that you will only find mass produced bottle necks or bottoms,
nearly all of the glass will come from mass production and in any color.
Tumbled craft glass has a market
and the differences are easy to see up close. It pays to be informed
and ask questions.
Sea glass, Beach glass, Mermaid tears
or Lucky Glass whatever you care to call them there's no denying that the
Mighty Ocean turns unwanted glass bottles and objects into colorful Glistening
Jewels of the sea. The Ocean's saltwater & sand combined with the various
tides act like a giant rock tumbler & eventually turn sharp broken
glass into beautifully rounded frosted jewels that wash up on the shoreline!!
The most common colors of beach glass are White, Green and Brown. Less
abundant are the Deep Aqua's, Cobalt Blues, Sea foam Greens, Lavenders
& Purples, Lime Greens & Rose!
The King of all sea glass and the
most hardest color to come across is Orange Sea glass followed by the Cherry
Red's.
The old sea glass you find such as
the "Very Rare" Cobalt Blue's were usually created from Vick's, Noxema,
Milk of Magnesia & Bromo Seltzer bottles. The red's could be from older
car's glass brake lights, very old Anchor Hocking beer bottles or from
stained glass windows dumped into the sea ages ago. The rest are from Mason
jars, Telephone insulators, Coca Cola bottles and beer and soda bottles,
which are what you mostly find on the beach in present day.
Some bottles probably came from boats
and even sunken ships! It is said that it takes a minimum of three years
for the waves, sand and tide to wear the broken glass down to the likeness
of a raw gem or for a better term, what you now call beach glass!
Sea glass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sea Glass in several colors and shapes.
Sea glass (also known as beach glass, mermaid's tears, lucky tears, and
many other names) is glass found on beaches along oceans or large lakes
that has been tumbled and smoothed by the water and sand, creating small
pieces of smooth, frosted glass.
Sea glass is one of the very few
cases of a valuable item being created from the actions of the environment
on man-made litter.
Sea Glass as a Hobby
Like gathering shells or stones,
collecting sea glass is a hobby among beach goers and beachcombers, and
many enjoy filling decorative jars or making jewelry from their finds.
Hobbyists both enjoy searching for and collecting sea glass, as well as
identifying its original origins.
Sea glass can be found all over the
world, but the beaches of the Northeast United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
Maine, The Chesapeake Bay, California, and Southern Spain are famous for
sea glass. The best times to look are during spring tides and new moon
and full moon tides, and during the first low tide after a big storm.
Do you a piece of sea glass that
is very special to you? Call me, let's talk about turning your personal
treasure into a unique sea glass necklace! 410-924-4461 |
Phil
Lambert has been collecting sea glass for many years, and his large selection
of sea glass necklaces is sure to include something you will love.
