Carter Sea Glass Colour & Rarity Guide

"With every treasured piece of sea glass you spot in the sand, a spontaneous reaction accompanies your find.  That reaction is predominantly based on the colour of the beautiful shard now being viewed in your hand.  Maybe it’s your favorite colour, or a colour that reminds you of the very ocean that tumbled it.  But what is that colour’s name? Depending on who you ask, you could get infinite “names” for that colour. In describing your piece you may call it “aqua”, but others may have a completely different name.  I thought it might be time for all of us to have the same answer.

I would like to introduce you to the Carter Sea Glass Colour and Rarity Guide.  

I created this guide as not only a reference to collectors but as a way for the sea glass community to be standardised in referring to specific colour names.  I spent many hours of sorting and deliberating over my own collection to create this guide.  I’m confident that it covers a majority of the world’s solid, translucent sea glass colours.  Shades do exist beyond and in-between these, but it is very comprehensive as an official guide to use for the common collector.

This guide can also be used as a way to sort your collection.  Some collectors like all their finds to be mixed in a rainbow of colour, maybe in a vase or on a windowsill.  However, other collectors are very serious about sorting their collection to have each colour in a vase of their own.  Jewellers or crafters probably find it a necessity to have their collections sorted by colour.  It can be hard to determine where to draw the line between how many shades to break down a category into. Now you have a guide to help.

In the past, rarity of particular colours has been classified by categories of rareness.  For example, one scale might say red is “very rare” and another scale may categorise red as “ultra rare”.  Which is more rare “very rare” or “ultra rare”?   

For the Carter Colour and Rarity Guide, I found a 1 – 10 scale would be more universal in determining how rare a colour is. Rarity of each colour is posted by its colour name on a 1 (common) to 10 (extremely rare) scale.  I consider myself to be an expert in sea glass and I compiled my rarity gradings from years of experience and research.  However, the rareness of a colour can be can be affected by the location in which it was found.

I designed this guide to not only be a reference for you, but a beautiful work of art.  I hope you can find a place in your home to frame and spotlight it.  This can be a conversation piece about your favorite topic, how perfect!  I’m sure it will prompt many discussions about your own sea glass collection.." Meg Carter