Sea or Beach Glass is a natural process of an unnatural material and imparts a beautiful color and finish on glass and ceramics over time. Much of the sea glass comes from items jettisoned overboard, although a significant amount also comes from wrecks.

Some colors are more modern and therefore less rare, especially emerald, brown and white. True sea glass hunters generally leave these on the beach as they often come from modern beer or wine bottles.

 The rare colors that are most prized: Sea Foam Green which include the remains of old Coca-Cola bottles which take on a lovely color over time; Red, which can come from cranberry glass which was popular at the turn of the century; Cobalt Blue, which was commonly used as medicine bottles to keep light from harming the ingredients; and Lavender, which actually started its life as white but over decades has taken on a lovely new color. Another popular color is Aqua, a fantastic bluish green color like the ocean color of the Caribbean. Other rare colors that are less popular except with true afficianados are Amber, Olive and Citrine which are among the oldest shards, as they often come from the 18th and 17th centuries.

Although the vast amount of Sea Glass is found in small shards, there are other forms such as bottle necks, marbles and bottle stoppers that look like an upside down witch hat. The bottle necks are fun to use in jewelry and can often date the glass by the thickness of the neck and the screw marks or flared tops. Bottle stoppers are extremely rare and at least in the Northeast region, a daily beach hunter is happy to find just one every year or two.

There are other items that people also collect including pottery shards from American or Chinese Trade plates or marmalade jars, Bakelite shards, sailers' pipes, and even small dolls or action figures that used to come in cereal boxs or were a toy for a child.

All buyers must be aware that there are modern sand blasting methods that try to duplicate the natural process and much so-called "sea glass" is not the real deal; if it is too perfect in shape, be dubious. Also the frosting process of real sea glass is not uniform throughout the piece and its depth of frost varies. With time you'll see the difference. Try to buy through a reputable dealer only.