Facts about Beach Glass or Sea Glass

Beach glass, Beach Glass, Sea glass, and Sea Glass are Pretty much all the same.

The difference would be that if glass were found on the shores of a lake it would be technically only called Beach Glass.
When living in Ventura California I became obsessed with hunting for Beach Glass. At that time there were only a handful of us beachcombing, in search of sea glass. It was abundant.
When I moved from there , the sea glass was scarce. There were also many more beachcombers. Was it the multitude of beachcombers that left with the beach glass that caused the decline? Possibly. There also was much dredging that was changing the face of the beach, burying the gravel that I use to find a mother lode of glass. It was buried 5 feet under the sand, the beach glass was inaccessible. Also a possibility that plays in this equation, is that so many glass containers are now replaced with plastic.

What is Beach Glass:
Beach Glass is debris from glass containers that has been shattered and found its way to The beach. The action of the waves, and the wearing of the sand, will tumble the sharp Edges to a smooth opaque finish.

The colors of the glass are numerous, and some so rare that it is a memorable experience when finding. I had a friend pick up one of my gems and comment that when I looked at the glass I saw jewelry, while all she could see was an old Heineken bottle. Shards from Coca Cola bottles are quite beautiful. The color is a blue green and goes well with Fluorite beads.

My most exciting find was a beautiful piece of red. From the design on the surface I came to the conclusion that is was a piece from the port light on a ship.

What Is Sea Pottery?
Sea Pottery is another type of beach glass, and is also called Sea Tile, Beach Tile, or Beach Pottery. Sea Pottery's origins are earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Sea pottery is claimed to have been discarded in the 18th and 19th century, and is thought to be from ship wrecks. Usually both sides of the worn pottery are colored. Some that are exciting to find have writing. I found a piece that had detergent written on it, and wondered if that was what it was sold in.

What makes Some Beach glass more valuable than others:

Certain colors are more rare than others. Here is the order of some popular colors I have come up with From my own personal experience: Going from the most common to rare Sea Glass.

These were colors that I found on the West Coast. Thank you Heather for all the beautiful pieces...more like boxes! :D
from Mexico.
These colors and ratio of colors all differed from California. Also some colors are more easily found on the Atlantic Oceans.

Where to Find The Sea Glass
I have always had pretty good luck at the rivers mouth. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. So much garbage ends up in the rivers, and works its way to the ocean. When reaching the ocean it is then naturally tumbled by mother natures Power. Refining it to the jewels that we hunt for.

When to find beach glass:
There are certain times that the glass seems to be more easily found. It is in the fall and spring. That is when the tides will be at its lowest. Gravel seems to be a good spot.

Hope this helps all you beachcombers. If you have any questions, stories, or a piece that you would like to be made into A keepsake jewelry, please contact me. I would love to hear from you.