Genuine vs. Artificial

Note: This is copyrighted material and copying or duplicating any portion of this document without permission is a violation of international copyright laws. This document was produced as a compilation between several of the original board members of NASGA including Richard LaMotte and Charles Peden. This article has been reproduced here with the permission of the North American Sea Glass Association .

Genuine Beach Sea Glass

1. Originating from discarded bottles and tableware, or glass from shipwrecks and household items lost in natural disasters.
2. Quantities of some colors are severely limited. Colors such as orange, red, yellow, cobalt blue, purple, turquoise, "black", and Vaseline are very rare. Genuine sea glass in these colors is normally never sold by the pound.
3. Sea glass is often hydrated and may have a "frosty" surface, appearing crystalline in structure. Hydration is a slow process where the lime and soda in glass is leached out by the constant contact with water, leaving variable pitting on the surface of the glass. The soda and lime can combine with other elements to form tiny crystals in the surface of the glass. Many good specimens will sparkle in the light. It is impossible to duplicate this process with out actually allowing nature to take its course over several years.
4. Small "C" shaped patterns may emerge on the surface of the beach sea glass and small hair line cracks may develop on some pieces.
5. Natural tumbling is often uneven on rocky shores, where a piece of sea glass got stuck with a portion of it still exposed. This process frequently produces shards that are triangular shape, and yet in some areas such as sandy beaches, the tumbling may be very even making them well rounded and nearly uniform in shape.
6. Sea glass may frequently be composed of identifiable bottle necks, bottle bottoms lettering and other unusual shapes and distinguishing features such as mug handles and so forth.
7. Sea glass continues to go up in price as supplies dwindle (littering is discouraged) and more and more people become collectors. Recent years have seen two books on sea glass come out, C. S. Lambert's Sea Glass Chronicles and most recently Pure Sea Glass, written by Richard LaMotte.

Artificial Sea Glass

1. Originating from either a factory, workshop or rock tumbler (in rare occurrences people bring premature sea glass home to finish it off in a rock tumbler). Craft glass may be made from sheets of glass which are cut up and tossed into a rock tumbler or acid bath. Craft glass can also come from recycled glass bottles. Some who are a bit more particular will actually seek out old bottles which to then turn into tumbled craft glass.
2. Nearly all colors are readily available in quantity and pricing between colors is fairly consistent. Since one does not cost more than the other to produce it's a sure sign of artificial sea glass.
3. To duplicate the hydration process that genuine beach sea glass undergoes, many manufacturers will etch the glass in an acid bath after tumbling it. Improperly rinsed, the glass may still contain some acid residue which can be toxic. Some large craft stores that carry tumbled craft glass caution you against using it in your aquarium and to avoid excessive handling. This type of tumbled glass is often used in the floral industry in vases to support flowers.
4. Etched glass has a satiny appearance and will be very uniform in its finish. It will be devoid of any small "C" shaped patterns on the surface, (which may occur on genuine beach sea glass).
5. Tumbled glass is often quite rough on the edges. If it is well worn the pieces in the lot will usually be small yet very similar in the overall degree of tumbling.
6. Many times tumbled craft glass comes in large chunky amorphous shapes, and sometimes it comes as nearly uniform squares and triangles. If it is recycled glassware such as bottles, odds are that you will only find mass produced bottle necks or bottoms, nearly all of the glass will come from mass production and in any color.
7. Tumbled craft glass has a market and the differences are easy to see up close. It pays to be informed and ask questions.

Buying Tips

1. There are many sources to purchase sea glass, but fraud does exist and it pays to be an educated consumer when shopping for sea glass.
2. Ask before you buy: just because the seller is advertising that they have beach sea glass, does not mean that the glass has ever been to a beach. Some sellers are simply uneducated in the differences between genuine sea glass and artificially tumbled craft glass. Some try to pass off craft glass as beach glass and there are plenty who sell the genuine article and spend hours searching for it.
3. If the picture in the listing or the bag of sea glass shows very uniform color, with no variance in the hue from piece to piece, odds are that it is tumbled craft glass. Blurry, poorly-lit pictures are also a red flag.
4. Pricing is not a reliable indicator of authenticity, as some sellers price differently then others based upon supply and demand. That being said, if you see a pound of red advertised for $10.00, odds are that it is not genuine natural beach sea glass.

In the picture above, there is genuine beach sea glass on the left and on the right of the picture, artificially tumbled craft glass.

In the picture below, the artificially tumbled craft glass has been covered up.