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.

‪#‎seaglass‬ ‪#‎ocean‬ ‪#‎treaure‬ ‪#‎mermaids‬ ‪#‎sea‬ ‪#‎glass‬ ‪#‎beach‬ ‪#‎coast‬ ‪#‎coastal‬ ‪#‎upcycled‬ ‪#‎recycled‬

Love Cornwall x

'Gwedren an Mor' literally means glass from the sea in Cornish, a language which has had a recent revival in Cornwall. This is a lovely chunky forged sterling silver circle hung with a purest white rounded nugget of sea glass. Available with 18 or 16 inch sterling silver smooth snake chain.

If you love Cornwall, sea glass and all things eco, this is the perfect pendant.

That's more like it.....

Great beach, big sky ~ bliss

This was the view in my right eye as I lay down on the sand today. This evening the wetsuits are drying in the garden. There is sand in the hallway again. Beach life is back. All is well.

I'm going to resist to urge to describe at length the sheer joy and rare relaxation I felt watching the children playing on their bodyboards, in a large pool left by the retreating tide. Or the unexpected pleasure of watching two smiling teenage boys spontaneously doing Duelling Banjos (well, one had a guitar) on the rocks behind us, and everyone's grateful appreciation of their music, young or old. Suffice to say today was just a stonkingly lovely day.

So with things back to normal on the beach front, there has not been much time for blogging. Last week in the workshop was productive though, using the sea glass we found in the new cove we discovered. Here are some of the new sea glass earrings, these and the rest can be found in my Etsy shop.

Another pair of stacker earrings, which I love. They hang at just around 3" long. My pair are getting loads of compliments. This pair is made with 2 pieces of sea glass, rather than recycled glass. Finished with subtle frosted recycled beads.
These are cold forged sterling silver, with pale aqua and white tone sea glass, found on our secret Cornish cove, and hand drilled in my workshop. The 'spines' of the earrings are hammered flat to prevent the beads coming off - really simple, and absolutely stunning.

Ridged sea glass spiral hoop earrings. The sea glass and the silver spirals are removable, so you've kind of got three pairs in one - the plain cold forged (by me) hoops (approx 1" diameter), plain sea glass hoops, silver spiral hoops, or the sea glass and spirals on the hoops (as pictured). That's four pairs in one actually!
I was amazed to find these two pieces of this lovely ridged glass that matched so well.
Drilling them was quite nerve racking. But it was worth it.

Wave sea glass earrings

These are so clean looking on,
love the length, and that they are all one piece.

Same only not looking at you.