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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Creating Sea Glass Jewelry - A Day in the West Coast Sea Glass Studio

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The West Coast Sea Glass studio is a haven of color and creativity. We started out traversing the shores of the Pacific ocean decades ago. We've found rare pieces in every color over the course of our lifetimes. At left: A remote beach on Vancouver Island, Canada.

Our collection is decades old and most people have never seen a collection with as much color, history and variety. So we work hard to explain that ours is not average. It's an older collection, pieced together, one gem at a time, over decades.


Once back at the studio, we always place our pieces in baskets by color category and according to which body of water it was found along. At right: Baskets by color. More about color HERE.

When it's time to design a jewelry creation, just the right piece of sea glass is chosen. Today a very rare, true turquoise piece at left is chosen. The silver is measured, fitted around the piece, cut, soldered and sanded all by hand in our silver studio. No two pieces of sea glass are exactly the same, so the metal smithing process takes time and care.  Some days, we can spend eight hours at the bench grinder, sanding metal into shapes that fit the sea glass pieces.

After all the designing and fitting, the jewelry is polished with special tools, then polished again by hand with jewelry papers or cloth to make either a brushed finish to the metal or a silky, smooth shine.

Each creation is stamped with our signature "sea Star" mark on the back. This ensures its authenticity and workmanship and guarantees you it's a high qualiiy, West Coast Sea Glass piece. 

Left: A sterling silver and sea glass ring, hand made at our metal working station.

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The Beauty in Sea Glass Collecting

"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came."  J.F.K.


Whether an ocean lover, a nature adventurer or an archaeologist, the hunt for sea glass speaks to many of us.  Is it simply beach combing?  Is it hiking?  Is it artifact digging?  Perhaps it is something of all of these and more. I have spent a lifetime along the sea.  I have found myself there, gazing horizon-ward on days when nothing else seemed to make sense.  I have walked along the shore, I've sailed there, sang there and met storms there.

I am a product of the transformation of the sea.

Sea glass too is a remnant of sorts.  A rough and discarded shard; once useful, yet broken and tossed to the depths.  Nature over time, wind-sweeps us back and forth with the tide.  And along a journey.  Perhaps the beauty we find in collecting it comes from a bit of our own journey.

This deep lavender was photographed after an all day hike along one of Hawaii's southernmost shores. The journey was at a beautiful place but the act of discovering too was magical.  And the pieces found each had their own beauty also.

Once our finds are brought home.  They are poured out, their beauty is admired, the glass is washed gently and sorted by color.  Most collectors find the beauty in sea glass in both the hunting experience and in the displaying of it in a collection.

I sort by color or smoothness and  always categorize my glass according to where on this planet I found it (Pacific, Caribbean, Greece etc.).  Some collectors even create beautiful works of art with their historic glass shards.  

View Sea Glass Jewelry Here

  

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Greek Islands and Sea Glass Hunting

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Twelve days in the Aegean Sea's Greek islands was a journey to remember. Posted By: Mary Beth Beuke

As serious sea glass hunters, being anywhere near the water is always what it's all about but being in the islands, walking through the teal blue waters and enjoying the warmth of the Mediterranean climate made for a sea glass collector's paradise.

Our first night in the historic city of Athens, we arrived just in time to experience a spectacular moonrise over the Acropolis. We boated from Athens to the island of Naxos and viewed beautiful, historical ruins right along the shore.

Several days were spent walking the beaches, hunting for sea glass and enjoying the sunsets.

Our friend and Sea Glass Journey book author Christeena, (she's the tan one) who resides in Greece much of the year and who's husband is a yacht captain, took us to a few spots on one of her favorite islands to sea glass collect.

We spent one morning on the island of Paros' beaches. We strolled through the waterfront town's streets and buildings and stepped into a few boutiques and art shops. The architecture avails itself to some very colorful and rich photo opportunities.

On the island of Santorini, steep cliffs and very narrow roads abound. One of the best ways to reach the most remote beaches is to rent scooters and zip around and down to the shore. Local inquiries and maps help too! Many a tour bus could not go down side streets like we could. More than once we stopped at a street-side shop for olive, caper and grape hors d'oeuvres.

We at West Coast Sea Glass are grateful for the opportunity that our little business has provided us with to travel a bit and enjoy many beautiful oceans. For more photos of where we do most of our sea glass hunting, click here.

Sea Glass Hunting - In Hawaii

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I have returned from a wonderful nine days in Hawaii. Though most days were devoted to sunning, snorkelling and boogie boarding, I did hike about five miles one day in 86 degree heat to sea glass hunt.

With 40 plus mph offshore winds, the waves were high and the beaches were well churned up. This makes for prime conditions to wash fresh beachglass debris shoreward.

I hit a several mile stretch of beach that was virtually uninhabited. Though remnants of ancient homesteads built of stacked lava rock, dotted the dry, barren coastline, no one lived there now. Below me along the shoreline, cove after cove was carved with black rock that thousands of years before was molten and had rushed downward to the sea from a volcanic eruption. Tidepools had formed in the crevices of the cooled lava rock and occasionally an oasis of white sand and coral rested there in a patch. A spot of color (usually soft teal blues and seafoam greens) would stand out against the pebbly background. Sea glass! It beckoned as a smoothed, rare treasure amidst this harsh environment.

Many of these pieces were clearly from ship refuse; bottles jars, and even fishing floats that were smashed against the rough shoreline.

When one spends a lifetime along the water's edge hunting for sea glass, one also enjoy the benefits of the other treasures and the wildlife that the sea offers.

About mid-day, the protected, Pacific Sea Turtles would gradually make their way toward shore to spend an hour or two warming themselves on the sand. On my last day there, I was also blessed to be able to view two humpback whales breaching in a bay.

Ancient, carved tiki statues lined one beach I visited. I learned that over 500 years ago, this beach was a haven with religious significance for those seeking refuge and safety. There are many stories told of Hawaiians who swam for miles just to reach this very beach.

After a good 8 days on those sunny beaches, I began to get a bit crispy which, even for my olive skin is often difficult to do. Note the beach chair, poised and ready in the back of the car in case I happen upon the perfect beach.

All photos and text: Mary Beth Beuke - West Coast Sea Glass


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