Saturday, November 12, 2011

Sea Glass and Sterling Silver; Stamping, Patterns, Making A Unique Mark

We've been asked to create some beautiful pieces over the years.... Sea Glass Earrings, Necklaces, Bracelets and more.  When time allows, we enjoy moving our creativity outside of the box.  And this year we are happy to be sharing our world class collection of sea glass in some new  silver designs fresh from the studio.


Recently West Coast Sea Glass was invited to be a featured artist at the Tucson, AZ Bead Show.  While there, we made sure we took the time to purchase some fabulous new silversmith tools to enhance our sea glass and sterling silver designs.  The results; some new hammered creations.

These circular, sterling silver back plates make a wonderful setting to represent the circuituous, oceanic cycle that sea glass has journeyed upon.

At left (below), our 1.5" rounded, hammered "half moon" pattern creates a handsome ring setting.

  
At right (above) a hand hammered, lined pattern in the backplates hallmarks a pair of cornflower blue, sea glass gems.  The sea glass was beachcombed by hand from Pacific Ocean beaches and paired together in these original West Coast Sea Glass earrings.

At right a well hammered focal pendant features a naturally shaped, aqua blue sea glass triangle.  All pieces are bezel set in fine .999 sterling silver.

Check out more genuine beachcombed sea glass and sea glass jewelry here:  West Coast Sea Glass







As always, the West Coast Sea Glass pieces that are made in the silver studio are marked with our signature "sea star" stamp.  This ensures your piece is authentic, and hand crafted by us.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

It's All About The Sea Glass Jewelry


Teal Sea Glass Cuff Bracelet
There are constants in life like the regularity of the tide and the beckoning with which the ocean calls out to some of us. There is also the need to create which runs strong and unwaveringly for some.




The act of collecting sea glass provides us with a reason to escape to the beach but it also provides fodder for that compelling drive to see the potential in creating something beautiful with that which we have gathered.


And then it really becomes all about the sea glass jewelry. That's how it is at West Coast Sea Glass.  And honestly, it's been that way for years.


This blog has generally been our place to share the joy of the hunt, the beauty of our surroundings and to tell the sea glass story.  But in this blog post, we unapologetically display some of the created, handmade pieces; the sea glass jewelry.



Magenta Swirled Sea Glass Ring
Bright, Limey UV Green
Cobalt Blue Teardrop
Sailboat Necklace
Vibrant Lime Green Ring
Rare Turquoise Blue Ring
Honey Amber Ring
Aqua Blue Disc Ring
Triple Pastels Necklace
From a lifetime collection of Pacific Ocean rarities, each sea glass piece is chosen for it's symmetry, frostiness and color.  

We artistically hand craft the jewelry around the ocean sculpted artifact, creating a one of a kind work of art.

Hours of training in metal and silversmith techniques paired with multiple work studios have enabled us to gain the experience needed to set our sea glass rarities into their jewelry forms.

See more of our lifetime collection of sea glass and sea glass jewelry here:
West Coast Sea Glass.








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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

West Coast Sea Glass - Jewelry Designing with Inspiration

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As serious sea glass collectors and full time jewelry designers our art is about more than just putting out a product. It's about desinging with inspiration, a purpose and a story. Here's how and why we do it.

 
The beach view from the front of the West Coast Sea Glass studio

SURROUNDING OURSELVES WITH BEAUTY:
It's a daily choice to surround ourselves with beautiful things. Why? Because when there are orders to fill and bills to keep up on, the "creative juices" can easily get squished into the corner in light of the more pressing "responsibities" to running a full-time business. That's why at West Coast Sea Glass we take the inspirational and designing side of our job quite seriously.

GETTING OUT AND GETTING CLOSE TO THE SEA:
Regular beach treks and excursions are on our calendar specifically for the purpose of staying close to the ocean and for the purpose of discovering something new and beachy.

On one of our day treks in northern Washington state

REMEBERING EACH PIECE HAS A STORY: 
Though it's getting more elusive to find, we've searched shores around the world to find these rare, colorful treasures. After decades of tumbling at sea each has been on an individual journey and no two are exactly alike. That's why we go out of our way to catalog each shard in baskets by color, by condition and by which ocean it was found along. We make this story available to each and every customer that buys a West Coast Sea Glass piece.
CRAFTING WITH CARE:
As trained silversmiths, we make sure we quality check each piece and scrutinize for creativity, uniqueness and sturdiness. We work hard to keep our pioneering spirit in our designs and in the way we run our business.

Lindsay solders a sterling silver ring.
 

The sea star is our silver stamp on
each custom bezel jewelry creation.
A group of deep purple sea stars.

OUR CREATIVE MARK:  The ocean's beauty is all around us giving us daily reminders of nature's color and resilliance. This is reflected often in our work.  Like the journey of sea glass, the sea star is a symbol of regeneration.  We stamp it on each custom bezel piece of our jewelry.
 
UNIQUE SEA GLASS JEWELRY: Below: A rich, cobalt blue piece of vintage medicine bottle glass is smoothed by years along a rugged Pacific ocean shore. It has been beach combed by the artist then finely bezel set into a sterling silver toggle necklace.

Rare, cobalt blue medicine bottle glass in a sterling silver necklace.

All images and content: © http://www.westcoastseaglass.com/
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