About Our Seaglass
Glass item discarded long ago, get broken over time in the sea. It gets bashed against rocks, and as it gets smaller the tide and waves tumble the glass in among the pebbles to give it its beautiful frosted look. It smooths out the broken edges over many years and it is estimated that the get a good rounded piece, it takes a minimum of 30 years. Essentially it is fair to say seaglass is litter.
The variety of colours are endless as glass has been used in variety of items over the years. We as jewellery makers particularly seek bright colours and especially blues, as they are very popular. A lot of the dark blues were popular in the Victorian age, so are rare and hard to find now. The rarest colours in our experience are reds, blues, purples, oranges, pinks and yellows. The most common, green, amber, white and a pale blue/green, we like to call seafoam.
The variety of colours are endless as glass has been used in variety of items over the years. We as jewellery makers particularly seek bright colours and especially blues, as they are very popular. A lot of the dark blues were popular in the Victorian age, so are rare and hard to find now. The rarest colours in our experience are reds, blues, purples, oranges, pinks and yellows. The most common, green, amber, white and a pale blue/green, we like to call seafoam.
Collecting seaglass can give you a little insight into how people lived years ago.
You can find all types of glass, both industrial and glass used for homeware. There are types of glass only found in certain places, for example milk glass, safety glass and Pyrex glass, these are usually found near the factories that produced them. You can sometimes see the pattern on the bottom or a word of the company that used or produced them. We sometimes find safety glass with wire in, which is very interesting.
You can find all types of glass, both industrial and glass used for homeware. There are types of glass only found in certain places, for example milk glass, safety glass and Pyrex glass, these are usually found near the factories that produced them. You can sometimes see the pattern on the bottom or a word of the company that used or produced them. We sometimes find safety glass with wire in, which is very interesting.
Glass bottle stoppers are exactly as they sound, a stopper is used to seal a bottle from spilling its contents. They were used by chemists, and also in expensive luxury goods. These were usually round and this suggests why they may survive, as this makes them less susceptible to breaking and chipping as they tumble in the sea.
We love to find marbles! They retain their beautiful round shape even after years in the sea.
You may remember different types of marbles from your childhood. I love to visualize these being played with by small girls and boys many years ago. They get a beautiful sea frosting so can sometimes be hard to see the pattern inside.
The clearer marbles I have always believed to have come out of bottles as a type of seal. But there are other theories, one is that these would have been used for ballast in ships, so may have been washed up from ship wrecks.
You may remember different types of marbles from your childhood. I love to visualize these being played with by small girls and boys many years ago. They get a beautiful sea frosting so can sometimes be hard to see the pattern inside.
The clearer marbles I have always believed to have come out of bottles as a type of seal. But there are other theories, one is that these would have been used for ballast in ships, so may have been washed up from ship wrecks.
We have to travel a long way to collect our ‘end of day’ glass. This type of glass is Artisan glass that would have maybe been produced at the end of the working day. The suggestion is that it was done in the workers own time, for their own use, with left over glass that otherwise would be thrown away. It is distinctive by its multiple layers of colour. It is very sought after and can be found on sites near where there were glass factories . All seaglass pieces are unique each one is tumbled in different ways and they retain marks and dents that make them truly individual, this in turn makes all our seaglass jewellery a one of a kind item.
