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Copyright© 2006-08 by North Beach Treasures & Peter Messerschmidt, All Rights Reserved
Authentic Beach Collected Sea Glass, Pottery and Artifacts from the Pacific Northwest
Sea Glass: Created by ocean, sand, rocks, surf... and lots of time.
I think most of us have-- at one time-- picked up a small colored piece of glass on a beach. In fact, I am often surprised by just how many people pick up glass on the beach and keep it in a clear jar on their window sill, or in their bathroom, or perhaps set votive candles in a flat dish of sea glass "because it reflects light so prettily!"
Not so many people pause to ask "Where did this come from?" and "How did it get to look like this?"
The more interesting question I ponder is this: We typically don't walk around and pick up pieces of broken glass on the side of the road, or while having a picnic in the park. Well... we might, but we generally toss them in the trash, rather than collect or save them.
Yet... many of us will spend hours and hours on the beach in search of pieces of "broken glass," and when we come home with a handful of these gleaming gems from the sea, we consider it "treasure."
Herein lies the "magic" of sea glass.
People have collected sea glass for almost as long as humankind has known how to make glass. In the course of time, many names have been used. Some are practical and descriptive: sea glass, beach glass, sea gems... while others are are more fanciful or even mystical: ocean moonstones, sapphires of the deep, or one of my personal favorites, "mermaid tears."
Perhaps it is our fascination with the power and mysteries of the sea-- as much as the glass, itself-- that makes sea glass so attractive. Then again, it is just really pretty!
Getting back to the original question, sea glass is the result of glass objects being discarded into the ocean-- sometimes from ships, sometimes from people walking on the beach, sometimes from the long abandoned practice of towns simply dumping their garbage into the ocean-- after which water, sand, rocks and surf slowly break down the glass from sharp shards to the soft rounded "gems" prized by collectors, jewelers and artisans alike.
Part of the appeal of sea glass is that the process of its "creation" cannot be artificially reproduced. Many people try to "manufacture" sea glass with rock tumblers, acid baths and other means, but the results never look like the real thing. There's a detailed explanation about this on the "Natural vs Man Made" page, if you want to know more.
When we hold a piece of sea glass, we're holding something that may have taken 50 years to "make." It has a history, a "provenance," and it allows us to "hold" a small piece of the magic of the ocean-- perhaps a memory of happy times spent with family; a beach cottage we once had; a carefree childhood; a lover, lost to the sea.
Another thing that makes sea glass fascinating is its "collectible appeal." There are a myriad colors, and some are "common" and some are "rare." And there's always the possibility of finding that "unique treasure," or just your first piece in a color you've never seen before.
Sea glass is a diminishing resource. In the broadest sense, it is already "scarce," and getting scarcer. 100 years ago-- even 50 years ago-- we received most of our products in glass containers. Now, almost everything is packaged in plastic. Furthermore, stricter environmental regulations mean that much less garbage is "carelessly tossed" in nature; into the sea. The once fairly common practice of towns and companies dumping their trash into the ocean, is unthinkable in our world today.
Meanwhile, the ocean slowly buffs and breaks down the existing glass, making it scarcer and scarcer. There are beaches I'd walk as a child, 40 years ago, where an afternoon of beachcombing would yield a pocket full of brightly colored sea glass. Today, finding a half-dozen pieces on that same beach constitutes a "good" day.
