Many have heard of the term sea glass and know that it is used in jewelry and art but not as many as you would think know that it isn’t technically ?made? by the sea. Humans have been making glass for ages, as far back as 3500 BC and a fair amount finds its way to the ocean. When this glass ends up in the briny deep, mainly through shipwrecks, it gets tossed about in the currents until buffed and smoothed with a frosted sheen that then washes to shore.

Collecting beach glass is a hobby of many who live near the sea and is used to make beautiful jewelry such as sea glass rings. An authentic sea glass charm could sell for hundreds of dollars depending on the rarity of the color or colors used. There are a variety of color options available for those who have their eye on owning a piece of this spectacular jewelry or even just collecting the ?stones?.

• Greens: Found in every 50 to 100 pieces these types of beach glass could possibly come from bottles that were used to hold things like fruit, ink, and baking soda. Certain shades of green are more common than others and make appealing sea glass bracelets and necklaces.

• Purples, whites, and blues: These colors are uncommon, occurring in every 200 to one thousand pieces. Aqua blue results from ball mason jars and 19th-century glass bottles while the others, such as cobalt and cornflower, are from early bottles containing milk of magnesia, poison, and Vic’s vapor rub. The white sea glass is generally a result of milk bottles, and although quite common compared to the blues and purples, are very lovely with their opaque hue.

• Oranges: Occurring once in every ten thousand pieces, orange is probably the rarest of all and is usually the result of broken glass from car lights, art, and Avon bottles. With these slim odds if you happen to find orange sea glass you are very lucky indeed.

Treating yourself to an authentic sea glass charm is great but some feel that it is a bit more special if the pieces it contains were found by themselves. Representing hours of combing the beaches for an end result of strings of sea glass anklets or necklaces and rings can be very rewarding. If you live close to (or vacation around) the beach why not start a little collection of your own?