Collected broken glass from vintage bottles. We do not use intact old bottles, just broken ones. All our glass is at least 70 years old.
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"Island" glass Prior to modern trash collection and disposal (1950s) all trash in Bermuda was burned or dumped into local waters, household middens, quarries or used as fill in low lying marshy areas. Our old "island" glass is a legacy of 350 years of these past practices. While intact bottles are hard to find remnants of old poisons, sodas, medicine, food and the like can still be found; mainly from the 19th and early 20th century. These vintage bottles have beautiful colours, thickness and embossing that just cannot be found in today's bottles. With a little help this historic broken glass has been given a new use and transformed into jewelry to be worn in the 21st century. This glass is shaped and tumbled, in its "organic" form or as a hand cut bead. Each will come with a card telling you a little bit about the history of the bottle it came from. If you are an interested in collecting antique bottles you should visit - www.anthonypettit.com.
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A little history of our island glassThe majority of vintage glass found in Bermuda today comes from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century period (after which plastics took over). There was no universal system for the design of the bottles of that time but there is some "rhyme and reason" to the colours and shapes;
Black - wine, liquor (not a true black but rather thick green and brown glass ) Blue - poisons, medicines, liquor Green - medicine, poison, beer, liquor Green (olive) - beer, wine Amber - beer, liquor, chemical Clear/opaque - medicine bottles, tonics, sauces, food storage Milk white - cosmetics, medicine Aquamarine - sodas, food |
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Bermuda Seaglass In bygone days it was said that when a sailor drowned at sea, mermaids would cry and sea glass were their tears. In truth it can take glass bottles decades of tumbling by waves in sand, rock and salt to create the characteristic smooth edges and frosting of sea glass.
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Rarity of seaglass colours vary from place to place. By no means a scientific study the prevalence of sea glass colours in Bermuda tends towards:
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Common - Clear white, dark brown, olive green, kelly green, forest green.
Uncommon -Amethyst/violet, jade green, seafoam green. Rare - Cobalt blue (dark), cornflower blue (medium), aqua blue (light), yellow amber/butterscotch yellow, "black", milk white. Extra Rare - Red, true orange, true yellow. |
