Sea Beach Glass Gems Green Mosaic Inlay Sterling Silver Pendant JILLIAN VO ~ USA

This mosaic pendant is part of an original new series I’ve just completed, and am excited to share. They were very labor intensive being a mix of mosaic and inlay, but look stunning, so I think it was worth the time.

This sterling silver pendant features five green sea gems I collected from Midland Beach on Staten Island. Four are forest green, and the last has a beautiful teal tone running through it. Most green beach glass is formed from late 1800s to early 1900s beer bottles that found their way into our waterways, then into the ocean where they broke apart, and tumbled around for 60+ years before washing up on beaches.  The random shapes of sea glass have been created by nature, and I do not alter them in any way, so finding five with the perfect fit for a mosaic is like an inlay jigsaw puzzle. If you look closely, you will see granulation between the gems, that carries through to the outer frame. I’ve finished with a combination antique patina, and a high polish on the granulation. You will receive a sterling silver chain with this pendant, but it is not the Italian-made sterling chain pictured. The Italian chain is a perfect match, and is available in a separate listing. This pendant measures approximately 1 ¾” L and 1 ¼” W not including the bail. I will be listing several of these with different color sea glass over the next few days.

Sea Glass

Since moving to the US from Australia, I’ve been walking the beaches of the north eastern coast collecting surf tumbled sea glass and antique pottery shards. From the moment I picked up my first piece of sea glass I’ve been in love. They are stunningly pretty with their soft colors and frosted finish, but are also a part of history as it takes a minimum of 50yrs for the tides and surf to toss and tumble them into little gems. Of course, fake sea glass is being “cultivated” overseas now, and whilst the bright colors and uniform shapes are attractive to some, it is fake and I don’t use it. Its value is zero, much like a lab created diamond. About 90% of the sea glass in my jewelry has been collected by me personally over years. I do buy a small amount of genuine sea glass from collectors in places like Hawaii because my local surf does not produce the rounded gem shapes found in those locations. I will always let you know the geographical origin of the sea glass in items I create. Unlike “cultivated” glass, real sea glass is shaped organically by the surf and tides so they are uniquely uneven, and present a real challenge when creating their bezels. They also often display tiny “C” shapes on the surface of the frosting. I do not remove these as they are the signature of genuine sea glass, like the inclusions in an emerald. Where I collect, I find more white pieces than any other color. Brown is next, followed by Kelly Green. Very rare are the seafoam greens, and soft blues, with cobalt blue being the rarest color of all. Sadly, only about 10% of my finds are jewelry quality and the rest is chipped and used for craft. I hope you too come to fall in love with genuine sea glass.