Sea glass

For the carousel of the same name, seeSeaGlass Carousel.

Green and white sea glass

Sea glassare naturally weathered pieces ofglass,which often have the appearance oftumbled stones.Sea glass isphysicallyandchemicallyweathered glass found onbeachesalong bodies ofsalt water.These weathering processes produce naturalfrosted glass.Sea glass is used for decoration, most commonly injewellery."Beach glass" comes fromfresh waterand is often less frosted in appearance than sea glass. Sea glass takes 20–40 years, and sometimes as much as 100–200 years, to acquire its characteristic texture and shape.It is also colloquially referred to as drift glass from the longshore drift process that forms the smooth edges. In practice, the two terms are used interchangeably.

Formation

Sea glass begins as normal shards of broken glass that are then persistently tumbled and ground until the sharp edges are smoothed and rounded. In this process, the glass loses its slick surface but gains a frosted appearance over many years.

Naturally produced sea glass ( "genuine sea glass" ) originates as pieces of glass from broken bottles, broken tableware, or even shipwrecks, which are rolled and tumbled in the ocean for years until all of their edges are rounded off, and the slickness of the glass has been worn to a frosted appearance.Then, the glass will wash to shore where it may be collected.

Colors

The color of sea glass is determined by its original source, and most sea glass comes from bottles. Besides pieces of glass, coloredsea potterypieces are often also found.

The most common colors of sea glass arekelly green,brown, white, and clear. These colors predominantly come from glass bottles mostly used by companies that sell beer, juices, soft drinks, and other beverages. The clear or white glass also comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields, windows, and assorted other sources.

Less common colours includejade,amber(from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early bleach bottles), golden amber oramberina(mostly used for spirit bottles), lime green (from soda bottles during the 1960s), forest green, and ice- or soft blue (from soda bottles, medicine bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, windows, and windshields). These colors are found about once for every 25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.

Uncommon colors of sea glass include a type of green, which comes primarily from early to mid-1900sCoca-Cola,Dr Pepper,andRC Colabottles as well as beer bottles. Soft green colors could come from bottles that were used for ink, fruit, and baking soda. These colors are found once in every 50 to 100 pieces.

Purple sea glass is very uncommon, as iscitron,opaque white (from milk bottles),cobalt blueandcornflower blue(from earlyMilk of Magnesiabottles, poison bottles, artwork, Bromo-Seltzer andVicksVapoRub containers), and aqua (from BallMason jarsand certain 19th century glass bottles). These colors are found once for every 200 to 1,000 pieces found.

Extremely rare colors include gray, pink (often fromGreat Depression-era plates),teal(often fromMateus (wine)bottles), black (older, very darkolive greenglass), yellow (often from 1930sVaselinecontainers), turquoise (from tableware and art glass), red (often from oldSchlitzbottles,car tail lights, dinnerware, or nautical lights, it is found once in about every 5,000 pieces), and orange (the least common type of sea glass, found once in about 10,000 pieces). These colors are found once for every 1,000 to 10,000 pieces collected. Some shards of black glass are quite old, originating from thick eighteenth-centurygin,beer, and wine bottles.

Antique black sea glass

This "black" sea glass was collected inJamaica24 Dec. 2009. Under good light the green shade of the original glass before weathering is revealed.

Old black glass bottles that had ironslagadded during production to increase strengthand opaqueness were at times broken in shipment.

Artificial

In order to make artificial sea glass, a tumbler, sand, and glass are necessary.

A number of characteristics highlight the differences between artificial sea glass and natural sea glass, starting with the coloration and surface texture of each piece.An example of natural sea glass will usually have a frosty, almost powdery texture at different points.One of the most reliable indicators for natural sea glass is a C-shaped design all over the outside of the sample.If the design is located on the piece, it is authentic sea glass, since artificial glass will typically not have that particular design.Sea glass usually comes from broken glass bottles or other household items, so pieces found on beaches will not be perfectly shaped, unlike artificial sea glass, often sold as beach glass.

See also

• Glass Beach (Fort Bragg, California)
• Sea pottery

Further reading

• Park, Elizabeth."Where Does Beach Glass Come From?".USA Today.RetrievedNovember 6,2014.
• National Geographicmagazine, "Environment" section: "The Shard Way", August 2008
• http:// microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artnov11macro/JosephineWyman/JW_SeaGlassArticle.pdf

External links

• North American Sea Glass Association
• Fortune Small Business magazine article on sea glass collection
• Washington Post article on sea glass collection and sales
• Photographic Exploration of Sea Glass- Josephine Wyman
• Brief summary/discussion about Sea Glass / Beach Glass