About Us:
Most recent article about us http://www.santacruzsentinel.com Article about the 2010 Sea Glass & Ocean Art festival http://www.santacruzsentinel.com We ROCKED it at the 2010 NASGA festival in Cape Cod! Check out this "Best of the West" front page action! http://www.capcodonline.com RARE SEA GLASS IS WHAT WE ARE ABOUT! Read the article about us on Sea Glass Journal's website: http://www.seaglassjournal.com
Santa Cruz Sea Glass was launched in 2006 by myself, Krista Hammond. My husband, Tony Berkowitz and I are long time surfers and have been collecting sea glass together for many years. We are always are amazed at the beautiful and rare pieces we find along the beaches of Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay. Our love for the ocean and sea glass led us to learn the art of Silver Smithing from close friend, Mr. Robert Wunce. To see Robert's designs go to his website:Robert Wunce Silversmith
We wanted to create environmentally responsible high quality pieces of jewelry using the natural sea glass we find combined with refined; 60% recycled USA sourced sterling silver. No imports - no shortcuts, we make every piece with our own 2 hands. The result has been amazing. We are able to create one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry while partnering with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation so a portion of sales is donated directly back to the ocean. We also produce the 2009/2010 Sea Glass & Ocean Art festival and give back 10% of admission to the building of the 2012 Exploration Center in Santa Cruz: learn more here Exploration Center Partners
We are known for our amazing sea glass Rings and our exclusive Ocean Window pendants (US Patent/Copyright 2009). Our sea glass comes from many sources and some pieces are believed to be over 100 years old! The combination of surf and sand in the Monterey Bay produces some of the most treasured, worn sea glass any collector can find. We are also very lucky to have a few remote beaches where sea glass that originated from an old Glass blower can sometimes be found (if your lucky and brave). This combination gives Santa Cruz Sea Glass some of the most flawless, rarest, one of a kind color combinations found anywhere on Earth. When you purchase sea glass from us, you can be sure to have some of the best sea glass in the world! We are a Green company and refuse to use any products not from the USA - recycled pure sterling silver (made in New Mexico USA), our sea glass (we find it all), all our creations - only the best! Amazing pieces of sea glass are what set Santa Cruz Sea Glass apart.
Santa Cruz Sea Glass is also a Green company! Green is a relatively new term that can be applied to a business that makes a conscious effort to minimize its carbon footprint in order to promote conservation and environmental awareness. Santa Cruz Sea Glass was started in 2006 with these prinicples in mind. Sea Glass is in essence a recycled material; having once been man made glass that was dumped in the ocean, and ultimately over decades transformed by the sea and sand into beautiful gems that are found along the Ocean shore. Check out the very first article about us on Capitolagirl.com http://www.capitolagirl.com/2008/09/saturday-sparkle-santa-cruz-sea-glass.html
Our efforts to maintain Santa Cruz Sea Glass as a "Green Company" extend into every level of our business, from collecting excess trash on the beach to choosing recylced silver and paper. We also make a conscious effort to shop and buy Local. Buying locally helps your local economy! Since each piece of our sea glass is found in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary, we make a conscious effort to produce and run a company that has very little waste and impact on the environment. It is our way of honoring and preserving such a beautiful place as the Monterey Bay Sanctuary. In keeping with that premise we approached the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and formed a partnership in 2008, which 10% of the sales of all our Charm series necklaces go directly toward Ocean preservation.