You love the pictures.
You love the jewelry.
You love the sea glass colors.
After spending a little more than a week on the island with your husband and two daughters, you still felt that it really was not yet time to come home. The nine day vacation, however, was all that you could afford. And while staying a full two weeks would have made the trip even more fun, you are thankful for the many sea glass colors that you were able to find on the beach, as well as the sea glass jewelry maker that you found once you returned home. This artist was able to turn your found treasures into several types of sea glass charms, necklaces, and earrings. And while you were tempted to also purchase some of the sea glass rings that she had for sale, you promised yourself and your daughters that you would plan another beach vacation and you could again spend time looking for your own pieces of different types of beach glass so that you could have rings made from the memories that you found yourself.
Sea Glass Jewelry Items Are Popular for Both Tourists and Locals
If you have ever had the opportunity to live or vacation on or near a beach you understand the excitement of sea glass. Finding a piece of glass that may have literally been tumbling in the ocean for 100 years of more is exciting. And even if you find a piece that is much younger, less brilliant in color and still a little rough around the edges, you still know the fun that single find can be. When you return from vacation, however, you may be at a loss for what to do with these found treasures. Not surprising. a number of artists will turn your sea glass into a wearable piece of art. And while some colors are more common in some regions and while many of these pieces will vary depending how long they have been coming in and out with the tide, the best artists are able to turn your souvenir into a beautiful piece of jewelry that you will treasure for years.
Consider some of these facts about sea glass colors and the history behind these wearable pieces of treasure:
- Recycling plays a huge role in the availability of sea glass. In the past when there were no recycling programs, sea glass was more common. Today, with more people being careful about what goes into the ocean, sea glass is growing less and less common.
- Made from Nassarius shells, the oldest known jewellery ever found was 100,000 year old beads.
- Because sea glass has become more and more popular in the last decade, the beaches are more and more picked over. In fact, in some locations, very little, if any, sea glass actually remains.
- Triangle is the most common shape of sea glass because when the glass breaks it breaks in straight angles, forming this shape. The oval shaped pieces were once triangles that have been worn down for at least 100 years. Not only is an oval shape rare because of the time it takes to smooth down, but also the fact that in all those hundred or more years it never got tossed hard enough to break against a rock.
- Round, pitted smooth holes in the surface of sea glass are trapped air bubbles that were worn smooth and had the inside exposed after being worn down over the years.
- Bonfire glass is sea glass that was either burned in a fire or got struck by lightening. In either case, heat actually melted the glass. The bonfire glass takes on unique shapes and usually has bubbles, as well as sand or dirt trapped inside.
Sea glass colors are created from the color of the original bottle. For instance, cobalt blue pieces come from milk of magnesia bottles. Different parts of the country had different kinds of glass, creating different colors of sea glass. Whether you are looking for a single piece of glass for a necklace for yourself or a number of pieces so you can have jewelry made as gifts for friends, the process of finding the glass is both fun and relaxing.