Seaglass in its natural environment

Three pieces of rare BRIGHT red seaglass

Hi there, and thanks for visiting!

If you have found this page, I'm guessing you're either a fellow beachcomber, or a seaglass collector or jeweler working with sea glass, or you were referred here from one of my auction pages.

I started this eBay account because I love walking on the beach and finding "treasures," but I don't really have room for everything I find... and after 40 years of collecting, I have accumulated a large number of "duplicates." So, instead of just tossing things back in the ocean, I would like to share them with other enthusiasts.

At first I thought it was a slightly strange idea to SELL things I've found on the beach... but then I remembered that I personally BUY things other people have found on the beach. And in the same way I'm likely to buy specimens for my collection that come from places like Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, And England, and beyond... I realized that there are other enthusiasts in other parts of the world who'd probably LIKE to have some of the things I find on beaches 1000s of miles from where they live.

And so, here I am.

I'm not really "New" here...

I started this particular eBay identity in April of 2007. However, I have been a buyer and seller on eBay since May of 1998-- predominantly in connection with my "main" hobby as a stamp collector and my "primary day job" as stamp dealer to collectors around the world.

In general, I am primarily a COLLECTOR of many things-- and I have found eBay to be a wonderful outlet-- AND community-- for making contact with, and trading with, fellow collectors. As a piece of trivia... my very first eBay auction had number "15-million and something." Can you imagine that? These days where there are probably more than 15 million items being listed EVERY DAY. Back then, though, we all thought it was utterly amazing that one single web site could have "that much" for sale.

My own Sea Glass collecting history

I have been picking up "stuff" on beaches since I was 5-6 years old. It started when my parents and I were living in the south of France, and we'd spend many days on the beach. I learned how to "keep my eyes open" from my dad-- although he was an industrialist by profession, I believe he secretly wished he were a beach bum and salvage collector.

I soon noticed something I came to call "the small blue stones" in the sand, and started picking them up because they were SO different from the earthy colors normally found in nature. Of course, what I was picking up was cobalt blue sea glass. Whereas those original pieces of glass have long since been lost in the course of various moves, I never stopped picking up glass on beaches I would visit, around the world.

Sea glass is not the only thing I find. There are also colorful old pottery shards, all softly polished from years in the sea, interesting and unusual rocks, agate and jade, sea shells, driftwood... and pretty much anything that catches my eye as "unusual."

About Genuine "Beach Picked" Sea Glass

Authentic sea glass (or beach glass) is typically the result of glass-- including from trash and actual garbage dumps-- being thrown into the ocean, getting broken, and then gradually being polished by the action of currents and waves, with sand, rocks and pebbles acting as a "polishing abrasive." It takes many years for a sharp piece of glass to turn into the soft-curved beach gems we seaglass collectors prize so highly. It is not unusual for me to pick up glass I can determine as having come from containers more than 100 years old. And part of the fun is precisely that we collect OLD glass-- the origins of which can be traced as far back as the Victorian era, and earlier.

Within the seaglass collector and jeweler community, there is much controversy and discussion over the issue/problem of "man made" seaglass. There are companies that manufacture "seaglass" by putting broken shards of glass into industrial tumblers; huge versions of what "rockhounds" would use to polish rocks. The result is something that "looks like" sea glass-- but really isn't. It does take a fairly skilled eye to tell "fake" seaglass from "the real thing," but there are subtle differences between the two, to do with colors and surface texture. Beach picked seaglass can be quite scarce-- especially in certain colors and shapes-- and should NOT be confused with the glass that can be bought in 5-pound bags at hobby and craft shops. In my travels around eBay I have seen a number of "superb and rare" seaglass items sell for more than $200.00 for a single piece. As of this writing (October 2008) the single highest price I have seen for a single piece of sea glass on eBay is $417.00!

A couple of the most obvious "tells" are color and texture. If you have a handful of what you might call "amber" seaglass (for example), you'd notice considerable variation in color intensity, size and thickness of the glass. Manufactured glass would look far more uniform in color. Why? Genuine seaglass comes from a vast range of different original pieces of glass possibly created decades apart, while the manufactured version is most likely from one particular set of broken bottles-- all exactly the same color. The surface texture is also very important. Genuine seaglass has what collectors call a variable "frosty" surface, while manufactured glass tends to be uniformly "satiny" in finish. One is the result of a creation process that involves time, salt water, sand and rocks of many different sizes, while the other is (usually) the result of tumbling and acid etching. An obvious side effect of acid etching is that the acid corrodes all sides of a piece of glass EQUALLY-- surf and sand will wear more off exposed corners, but sometimes leave concave spots almost shiny.

A promise to Jewelers and Collectors

As a "Personal Statement," I ONLY buy and sell all-natural beach picked sea glass, as I find it. I do not "improve" what I find-- you get it "as is," as I found it on the beach. I also do not "treat" my glass (with oil, for example) to make it look shinier or more colorful than it really is, nor do I "overwork" slightly defective glass in a tumbler to "perfect" it. In fact, you can touch your tongue to a piece of my glass and taste the dried salt from the ocean! But watch out! You might get a few bits of seaweed, too...

All my auction and sales listings will DESCRIBE what you are buying-- sizes, color, condition, defects. As I recently passed my 10th anniversary of selling on eBay, I continue to adhere to the personal philosophy that "see photo" does NOT constitute a "description." A picture may "be worth a thousand words," but a picture without words can also "hide a million sins." I can be a fairly harsh judge, especially of my own wares-- if it is defective, I will TELL you it is defective. I also pledge to include a large, clear photo of everything I sell.