Aquamarine sea glass and white gold engagement ring

One of my favourite rings I've made this spring season is this simple yet stunning pale aquamarine sea glass ring I made for a lovely couple living here in Devon. I used the customer's own sea glass which he sent to me, had found it on the beach where the two of them had spent one of their first romantic dates together.

I cut, shaped and set his lovely pale sea glass in 14ct recycled white gold. I think it made a truly one-off engagement ring with impeccable eco credentials. 

If you have a special piece of sea glass you'd like made into a unique piece of jewellery you can always contact me through my website where you can see other designs I have made, and find out ways to commission me to make a unique piece of jewellery for your own special occasion. 

I don't just make engagment rings, I've used customer's sea glass finds, for special necklaces and earrings for events like birthday, anniversaries, to celebrate bridesmaids, best friends and Mother's Day  - any excuse to spoil someone in your life who loves sea glass and the ocean! 🌊

Blue sea glass and diamond engagement ring in recycled silver

I've been really enjoying working with sea glass and diamonds, I think it makes an amzing combination sea in fairtrade gold or recycled silver.

I created this triple ring in 100% recycled silver with a piece of rare blue sea glass and 3mm brilliant cut diamonds. A special engagement ring to celebrate Carys and Ross's not just having found each other and their beautiful union of love and joy, but also to signify the way that hope, and an extraordinary relationship with the ocean has helped to heal after deep tragedy. 

I am so honoured to make rings for all my customers, and to share in a small but significant way in some wonderful, romantic and sometimes awe-inspiring stories.

If you'd like to know more about about Glasswing Jewellery handmade ethical jewellery, sea glass and wedding rings head over to the Glasswing Jewellery website.

Sea glass - what exactly is it?

Sea glass , "seaglass" or sometimes "beach glass" is glass which is found on beaches after having been tumbled smooth and frosted by the ocean waves over an undetermined length of time.



Some of the glass I have found is very old, from an era when glass was far more widely used, and attitudes to the environmental damage caused by dropping litter into the sea were somewhat different to what they are today.

There is an infinite variety of colours of sea glass, and of course every single piece of sea glass is totally one off, having been on its own unique journey through the tides and currents of the ocean.

Some sea glass has travelled great distances, washing up on shores far away from where it was originally dumped, whilst other pieces have stayed trapped for decades in harbours, dropped by sailors and smoothed and tumbled by the tides whilst yachts and fishing boats go by.

Around the coast of Cornwall, we find lovely sea foam, aquas, pale greens, deep greens, and whites. These shades to me, represent the colours of the sea in Cornwall, and are the perfect choice to reflect the unique coast of my favourite place! Much rarer colours found on Cornish shores include blues, certain greens and deep aquas, and lavender.

Grey, pink, teal, black, yellow and turquoise and red (found once in about every 5,000 pieces), and orange (the least common type of sea glass), are all extremely rare colours. Rare sea glass in these colours is almost certainly rarer than diamonds.

The older pieces tend to be smoother, and rounded in shape, whilst the newer pieces wash up in all manner of squared or flat shapes. In jewellery all different shapes are used , and to great effect. The special 'glow' of sea glass, the way in which each piece catches the light in a different way, and the variety of subtle shades - pale aquas, frosted whites, palest blues to deepest colbalt blues and of course the array of greens all add to the magic and mystery of sea glass.

Recently my passion for genuine Sea Glass has led me to look for this increasingly rare commodity further afield.

I have managed to source some amazing examples of glass, some of which are at least 100 years old, that were discarded from an old glass processing in the North East of England, at Seaham in Durham. I have started to design around these pieces of glass, and I really love the pieces I've made.

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Who says sea glass can't be bling?

 

 

Who says eco-friendly sea glass jewellery can't be bling?

These beautiful ocean-worn nuggets of glass were sent to me by a customer, collected from #beaches on the Isle of Wight and New Zealand.

My customer commissioned me to make another set of two charm bangles, this time for her daughter (she kept the first set for herself).

All the sterling silver is 100% recycled, the upcycled sea glass is hand cut or drilled by me, and the bangles were then tumble polished for a deep shine. 

 

Sea glass ashes pendant in recycled silver

This sea glass pendant is a little different from my usual pieces. I have made a couple of these before, see earlier post here . I think they are a wonderful way to keep the memory of a loved one near.

It is a piece of precious remembrance jewellery, in the true sense of the word.

I constructed the pendant charm to have a little secret chamber inside, and I put a tiny amount of ashes into it, a silver cover on top and then I set the sea glass on top of that.

The ring is stamped with the words "FREE AS A BIRD NOW" in Cornish.

".... The pendant has arrived Kate, worth waiting for, it's beautiful, thank you so much. I have posted it on my Facebook site, you may possibly hear from others who would like something from Glasswing, I know that other women who have suffered bereavement are always looking for new ways to remember their loved one.
...... I hope you have a great Christmas, and thank you again for your work. Best Wishes, Julie C"

You are very welcome Julie, and warmest wishes to you x

Summer sea glass bangles

These Glasswing sea glass bangles are proving very popular in the Custom House Gallery in Porthleven, Cornwall, now that the summer weather has really arrived! 

Made from 925 100% recycled silver stock, they are available in single, double, triple and five 1.5mm gauge bangles, adorned and joined by a fixed ring with genuine sea glass nuggets, upcycled from Cornish and other English beaches.  I need to make some more to replenish stock!

sea glass bangles

Another sweet thing I made recently was this Sea Treasures necklace,  made with recycled silver, and a collection of aqua sea glass and blue china tumbled by the waves around Sennen in Cornwall.

sea treasures necklace

All hung randomly on totally handmade 100% recycled silver findings, on a compact silver snake chain.  I still can't find recycled chains yet, but I'm hoping one of the environmentally friendly bullion dealers I use will start making some very soon.

Precious memories in Cornish sea glass

Smile. Love. Live on

I was really honoured to be asked recently by a customer if I would incorporate some of her mother's ashes into a personalised ring pendant. I thought it was such a lovley idea, and I knew it was something I wanted to do the moment I got the commission.

I had to think long and hard about how to create a tiny space within the piece in which to place the ashes, somewhere where they would be safe and secure for years to come, and close to my customer whenever she wears the pendant.

My customer and I worked together, and decided on a bezel setting, the first one I have hung within one of my personalised pendants. The ashes needed to be placed within the bezel, with the glass in front, so I created a deep bezel, with a little chamber at the back for the ashes, along with a fairly thin piece of Cornish sea glass that I luckily had already, in the right colour, which was placed at the front.


I made life slightly easier for myself by hand sanding the glass at the edges with a piece of course aluminium abrasive, so it was more rounded than it had been when it was washed up on shore, and so easier to set within the hand shaped bezel. I used small pieces of silver inside the bezel, to create little 'brackets' on which to place a second 'shelf' layer of thin .3mm silver. Between the two layers of silver is where the ashes are carefully stored.




The second 'floor' was put in, and sealed with an almost indestructable, glass like jewellery adhesive. The aqua sea glass was then fitted on top of this, and the silver bezel pushed over it and finished by hand.

I'm so pleased with the pendant, with it's lovely Cornish stamping on it: "Minhwarth. Kar. Bew a-rag" - Smile. Love. Live on.