Why
are some sea glass colors common and some rare?
Some sea or beach glass colors are common and easily
found, while other colors are extremely rare. Why? Read on to find out!
A brief look at the history of sea glass explains this. Glass was
first made possibly as early as 1730 BC in Asia.
Glass is made from silica (historically in the form of sand) and
alkali or soda ash (sodium carbonate), which can be extracted from the
ashes of many plants. These two ingredients were melted together to
form early glass.
This process, which makes soda-lime glass, is still the basic
process used in making glass today.
When
was colored glass first used?
Until the 12th century, colored or stained glass was not widely used.
To make colored glass, first a small or large amount of a
natural coloring agent (such as metallic or other impurities) was
finely ground and then melted with the glass. Many of these coloring
agents still exist today.
What
makes the different colors?
Clear (white), as we know, is made with soda-lime. To produce
colors the following minerals alone or combined with other minerals
produce the following colors glass:
COLOR
PRIMARY MINERAL
Bluish-green (beer and
wine bottles)
Iron
Amber, yellow, and near
black
Sulphur
Amethyst and purple
Manganese
Red and pink
Selenium
Blue
Cobalt
White (opaque)
Tin
Turquoise
Copper oxide
Dark red (opaque)
Pure metallic copper
Blue, violet, purple,
and black
Nickel
Ruby and cranberry
Metallic gold
Fourescent yellow,
green, and red
Uranium
Orange-red to yellow
Silver
As you can see, some of the beautiful colors involve not only
much more costly ingredients, but the process involved also may cost
significantly more to produce deep vibrant colors and so has generally
only been used for limited production.
Naturally, these are the most vibrant sea glass colors and also
the most sought after by collectors for their sea glass collections and
sea glass jewelry.
RELATED PAGES:
Sea Glass
Color -
A description of different colors found in sea glass and their
importance to collectors.
Sea
Glass Color Chart - What really is the color of your seaglass?
Over 100 named colors to help you accurately describe your sea glass
and identify rare or valuable sea glass.
I received your sea glass hearts and I LOVE them all.
Thank you so much for sending the extra hearts.
I was so touched by your thoughtfulness and I appreciate you sharing these special gifts from the sea! Hope to see more of your sea glass soon!
Thanks again,”
Diane
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Thanks again to you and your wife.”
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Maryanne K.W.
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Love your sea glass web site. I enjoy your picture of the month and intend on winning at least once.
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Bill & Joan
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Jacqueline Giguere
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Now, I will compete in the Regional Science Fair which will take place on Feb 2nd. My mom and dad and I had a lot of fun searching for sea glass.
Thanks,”
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Karen
“I am beginning to be a typical sea glass hunter - always looking for fun places to find glass!
I think your site is great - very informative - thanks for the time and effort you put into it. ”
