What is UV seaglass?

What is UV seaglass?

The secret of this sea glass can be seen when shining it under a UV light.  After purchasing a small UV torch and going through the masses of seaglass in the Porth collections, just one piece was discovered.  This type of seaglass is incredibly rare.

In normal daylight the pieces appear a pale green and aren’t particularly eye-catching whilst beach combing.

Why does it glow under UV light?

This type of glass is also known as Vaseline glass due to its colour and oily finish (when not tumbled and frosted by the ocean).  The ultraviolet magic is due to tiny traces of uranium in the glass.

Do not fear though, you are likely to get more radiation from a few minutes in the sun than from the glass.  Uranium fluoresces under UV light, it is not radioactive!

How old is it?

There is evidence of uranium glass manufactured in England in the 1820s using rock mined in Cornwall.  It was mass-produced from 1830 and was a popular for table-wear an decorative items.  When WWII began, uranium became hard to get and so less glassware was made.

This makes your UV seaglass find even more special.

Do you sell UV seaglass jewellery?

Whenever UV seaglass is in stock it is sold as ‘Bespoke Seaglass’ on the Porth Jewellery website.

Here you can purchase the seaglass piece and choose the type of jewellery it would be suitable for.  Normally the UV pieces require some work to shape them and so you can decide exactly how you’d like your piece to be.  If you do not know your size, you can purchase the piece and then give measurements at a later date.

Each piece of UV seaglass not only comes with a map showing its provenance but also a small UV torch so you can show it off and amaze your friends!