Mermaid's Treasures

Sea glass (sometimes called beach glass) is glass from broken bottles or jars which is left in large bodies of moving water. The tumbling effect of the water and sand smooths the rough edges of the glass to create pieces of frosted glass.

Many beachcombers collect sea glass as they search their local beaches for treasures. Some colours are harder to spot than others, and accordingly are considered more valuable by collectors.

The colour of a piece of genuine sea glass depends on its origin. While quite a bit of sea glass comes from bottles, some comes from broken ceramics, old jars, even tableware.

The most common sea glass colours are kelly green, brown, and clear. Most of these come from old beer bottles.

Uncommon sea glass colours include jade green, lime green, and cornflower blue, mostly from old soda and alcohol bottles.

Rare sea glass colours include red, black, yellow, and orange. Most of these were originally bottles of a type that weren't broken often!

Sea glass can also be artificially created in a rock tumbler, but it's not the same as or in any way real sea glass. It takes years of wear and tear from the water to create the distinctive wear patterns on authentic sea glass. Such glass is usually called "craft glass" by collectors. If you see rare colours priced the same as common ones, the seller has craft glass.