Sea glass is a product of nature.

The sea takes a piece of broken glass - tumbles it around for a few decades and then tosses it casually onto a beach somewhere for us to find - as if to say "beat that!".

These beautiful sea glass 'gems' look as much like the broken glass they were created from as diamonds resemble coal or swans ugly ducklings.

The frosted appearance of the translucent surface is created by the action of the waves and sand and by chemical reaction with the salty water. It is a look that takes nature decades to create and it cannot be reproduced by any other means.

A piece of sea glass can't be altered or improved. Try to cut it and shape it as you would a diamond, or tumble it to make it a little smoother as you would a pebble and you destroy its pure, natural beauty.

You use it as it is, or give it back to the sea.

Sea glass is also called 'mermaids tears'.