Sea Glass From The Beach
Ranked #5,245 in Hobbies, Games & Toys, #62,414 overall
Where Does Sea Glass Come From?
The real thing old pieces of objects made from glass, such as dinnerware, bottles, jars and household items of all kinds that were either lost in a shipwreck, or in some other way left in the depths for decades. The effects of the ph of the water and the wearing and smoothing by the sand will give the pieces certain characteristics that man-made (tumbled) glass won't have. Anyone can make your own "sea glass" using a rock tumbler, but it should be sold as craft or art glass.
On this page I identify the most sought after colors of glass and help you know how to tell the real glass from the man-made stuff so you won't spend a lot of money buying glass that has been tumbled and not hand picked from a beach. But, if you want to make your own tumbled glass I have some info on that too.
I don't have any sea glass myself, so the pictures on this page are by others, and credit is given to them. Please click on any of the pictures or links provided to buy their sea glass photography.
Image credit: Sea glass stack by Stefmck
Green Glass Is One of The Most Common Colors
Many old bottles were green
Since green bottles were fairly common long ago, one of the most often found glass colors would be green.
Brown and clear glass are also quite common.
The frosted appearance comes from the effects of water on the glass. I will talk more about how to distinguish real from man-made.
Image: Green Seaglass by Tealtreasures
Green, Clear and Brown
are the colors
most commonly found.
Real Sea Glass vs. Artificial, Man Made Glass
Know what to look for when buying sea glass jewelry
Real, hand picked from the beach glass will have some distinguishing characteristics such as:
- The true "frosty" surface appearance can only be formed by nature over decades of being in water.
- Rare colors (listed below) won't be sold in large amounts, since they are obviously difficult to come by.
- Sometimes little "C's" are formed in real sea glass
View a picture of real sea glass & artificial side by side at the site below:
For more about the distinguishing characteristics of real beach glass, please read this page at the NASGA site (that is the North American Sea Glass Assoc.) for more in depth descriptions of real vs. artificial sea glass and see their example pictures at the bottom of the page. They even mention the book by Richard LaMotte that I have listed on this page.
“Red & orange sea glass is found only once per every 5,000 pieces."
(CA Sea Glass Assoc.)”
The Rarest Colored Glass
Many pieces are used to make beautiful sea glass jewelry
The North American Sea Glass Association lists the most rare colors as being:
- Red - example: West Coast Sea Glass rare red jewelry
- Orange - Read about orange at Odyssey Sea Glass.
- Yellow -View some jewelry made from yellow sea glass.
- Black - it's not really black, but a dark green or amber color, and it is rare because most black bottles were made before 1880 to keep sunlight from spoiling the contents. Also, black is difficult to spot among rocks on the beach. Read more at this page.
- Purple - see a picture at this Etsy listing page.
- Turquoise - a turquoise pendant at Etsy.
- Cobalt Blue - View some nice examples at Puerto Rico Beaches page.
- Vaseline - Radioactive glass? Read about this here.
Click here for a Color Chart to identify which shade your sea glass would be.
An Interview With Collector and Author Richard LaMotte
Buy his book at Amazon (link below)
Pure Sea Glass: Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems
Amazon Price: $22.87 (as of 06/03/2012)
Richard LaMotte and his family have been collecting sea glass along the Chesapeake where his wife uses pieces for jewelry making. He has over 40,000 pieces of glass. The book contains 200 images by Celia Pearson and not only explains what makes a find rare, it also talks about the glass industry and where much of the sea glass originated. A must have for any sea glass collector.
Celia Pearson's 14 Inch "Well Rounded Sea Glass" Print
Featured on the front cover of Richard LaMotte's book (above)
Well Rounded Sea Glass Art Poster Print by Celia Pearson, 14x14
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 06/03/2012)
Quality printing is done on archival photographic paper which results in true color and exceptional detail.
Do You Have a Collection or One Special Piece?
Tell us below what you have
Red and orange seem to be the most difficult to find. Other colors are also rare or very uncommon and I wonder how many people do own a rare piece of real, worn glass. Thank you for answering the poll.
The Top Ten Beaches For Finding Beach Glass
There are 3 in California, 2 in Washington state, 1 in Hawaii, 2 in Puerto Rico, 1 in Mexico and 1 in Maine.
Here's the list.
Sea Glass Photography Art
Can you tell if it's real?
Lakes Can Contain Old Glass Too
Beach glass does not have to come solely from ocean water. All water and elements wear down glass over time, but the glass found in oceans will have a more frosted look because of the effects of the salt.
Beach Glass Jewelry
Not from the ocean
Buy some Lake Erie beach glass
in a cute, little stoppered bottle necklace.
Are You Interested In Making Your Own Sea Glass?
This link will tell you how.
You will need a tumbler and it could take a while, but then you'll have some old looking pieces to use for jewelry or decorating. Just please don't try to sell it as the real thing!
Thumlers Rotary Tumbler Polisher Media Rocks
Amazon Price: $124.88 (as of 06/03/2012)
This tumbler has three, 5 star reviews as of my writing. It is solid construction and not extremely loud, which is good since tumbling items can take weeks of running the tumbler.
This is the place to comment about your sea glass.
Are you a beach treasures collector?
Although I have plenty of nice shells from my many visits to Florida's beaches, I never picked up any type of glass that I can recall. According to the list above, Florida is not one of the best places for finding it either.
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Blonde_Blythe May 14, 2012 @ 8:36 pm | delete
- I have never seen sea glass at the beach. Apparently, I went to the wrong beaches. I would love to go to a beach with sea glass!
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daria369
Mar 5, 2012 @ 8:55 am | delete
- Very much enjoyed your lens about beach glass. There's just something so magical and romantic about it, thank you! :)
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Michey Mar 1, 2012 @ 8:16 pm | delete
- A coupe of years ago I had a chain of sea glasses. Your love for beaches and shells is a great hobby.
Thanks
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JoshK47
Jan 13, 2012 @ 11:44 am | delete
- Sea glass is really cool - great work on this lens.
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Tia2
Jan 9, 2012 @ 11:41 am | delete
- I have always loved to see sea glass, but I have only just started collecting them. I never heard of the "little "C's" before, but sure enough some of my oldest looking pieces have them. It would be so awesome find an orange or red piece, but at a rate of one "per every 5,000 pieces" I won't hold my breath. Thanks for the valuable info.
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Credit Goes To These Helpful Sites
Check them out for more interesting information
- California Sea Glass Association
- Santa Cruz Sea Glass is a green company that creates handmade high quality, silver jewelry that reflects the organic beauty of pure natural sea glass. The best of the west.
- North American Sea Glass Association
- The North American Sea Glass Association intends to educate the
collector, consumer and retailer as to the properties and benefits of genuine, pure, natural beach
sea glass. Provide a forum and knowledge base for sea glass enthusiasts to communicate with other
individuals who share their passion - Odyssey Sea Glass
- What is sea glass? Where can I find it? Is the collection I have unique or valuable? Here is your complete guide to collecting, sorting, and working with sea or beach glass!
- Sea Glass Collecting Magazine, Beach Glass
- The Sea Glass Journal is the online magazine for sea glass lovers everywhere. It is a seaglass resource containing information and articles on how-to beachcombing tips, identifying sea glass and beach glass origins, craft ideas using your sea glass collection and more.
Buy Sea Glass On eBay
Real or not? You decide.
Squidoo Pages With More to Add About Sea Glass
Hi, I'm Dustytoes. Thanks for reading!
by dustytoes
What do you know about beach glass? Would you know man-made sea glass from artificial? Certain colors are quite rare and you could have a magnificent... more »
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