What is Sea Glass? 

Sea glass is naturally weathered glass fragments, tumbled and shaped by the sea.  

Sea glass is found washed up on the beaches of our British coastline.  The weathering process smoothes and rounds the glass like pebbles on the shore. The salt water and sand makes the glass frosted in its appearance.  Sea glass can take many years, even decades, to form its characteristic shape and texture.

Sea glass is sometimes referred to as beach glass.  However, beach glass is formed by fresh water from rivers and is usually less frosted than sea glass. Sea glass is also known as mermaids tears and sea jewels.
 

How is sea glass formed?

Genuine sea glass originates from broken bottles, tableware and industrial sites. Some sea glass may even originate from shipwrecks. As the glass is rolled and tossed by the ocean, the broken glass shards are ground and smoothed by the movement of the waves.  Over the years, the surface of the glass will become frosted.  Some pieces will wash up on the beach, depending on the sea current and tides, ready to be collected by hunters like myself.  This process may take many years before a broken shard becomes sea glass. 
 

Sources of sea glass

So where does sea glass come from? Most sea glass comes from old bottles and jars  used for everyday household items.  These may be for mineral water, wine, beer or sprits. They may be medicine bottles or glass food containers.  Some beach glass is known to come from window panes, car windscreens and tail lights.  Some more unusual coloured glass may derive from fruit jars, perfume bottles and art glass. In the 1960s and 1970s many jars, bottles and pots were made of glass.  After use these items were often discarded into bodies of water, intentionally and accidentally, ready to be broken and tumbled by the waves.  Today we use less glass and more plastic for storage and the amount of glass being washed ashore is diminishing.

Where to find sea glass in the UK

Sea glass can be found on many beaches in the UK, although, it is generally more abundant on pebble beaches. Some of the best beaches for sea glass in the UK are Seaham Hall Beach, St Ives Harbour Beach and Portishead. The abundance of sea glass found at Seaham is due to the quantities of glass dumped into the North Sea by the glass bottle factories.

Here in Wales there sea glass can be found on several of our beaches. South Wales and the Gower are particularly known for their sea glass, where the Bristol Channel is ideal for the formation of sea treasure. Morfa Beach, Conwy is also a popular destination for sea glass hunters.

We are lucky enough to collect our sea glass for our Cerrig Môr jewellery from the beautiful beaches of Ceredigion, from Ynyslas to Cardigan.