Summer Adventures and Sustainable Jewelry Inspired by the Ocean

This year has had its ups and downs, but one of the things I'm so thankful for is how busy YOU, our amazing customers, have been keeping us here at Smart Glass Jewelry! But it’s not ALL work around here. I like to work hard and play hard, and this summer I got to take a little break and go on a great adventure with my brother!

PLAYING UNDERWATER ARCHEOLOGIST FOR A WEEK 

My brother lives in Merida Mexico and has been working with a group of scuba divers who are locating and exploring shipwrecks in the Caribbean. And I got the amazing treat of tagging along to play underwater archeologist for a week!

As you can probably guess, I have a long-standing love of all things ocean (I mean I work with glass and it is a slow-moving liquid). I have had the privilege  to travel the world and explore different bodies of water, but this week scuba diving was amazing, proven to be even more meaningful and fun since I got to do it with my equally adventurous brother.

EXPLORING SHIPWRECKS

The first shipwreck we explored was a Mayan Slave Ship that was taking indigenous people from the Yucatan Peninsula to Cuba. It sunk in 1851 (estimate) and the parts of the ship were really identifiable. Not a great story, but the historical discovery of this Mayan Slave Ship has been getting a lot of press lately. 

The second shipwreck we explored was a Dutch steamer that sunk around 1720. The best part of this dive was that during the dive another diver found the anchor! It was so cool to be right there when it was discovered – a real life Jacque Cousteau moment! This dive also had two clusters of visible cannons piled up – now teeming with coral and sea life, but probably tossed overboard in hopes of lightening the ship to stop it from sinking. 

POTTERY, STALAGMITES AND HUMAN SKULLS, OH MY!

And if playing ocean archeologist wasn’t enough, we ended our week of diving with a cenote “cave” dive. Cenotes are underground pools of fresh water that are found all over the Yucatan. They are large and small; some you can swim in but it’s pretty special to dive in one. I made it very clear that I didn’t want to go on a cave dive, and my brother along with our dive guide Sapo assured me this was a cavern dive, not a cave dive. But I can assure you they are the same thing!

So, there I was climbing down a 40-foot steel ladder in a well shaft into a pool of clear water below to start my cave/cavern dive. We had an assistant who lowered our gear down to us. Next thing I know I am scuba diving through stalactites and stalagmites the whole time thinking THIS IS A CAVE! Highlights were seeing Mayan pottery artifacts along with a human skull because hey, who doesn’t want to see a skull when you are underwater in a cave?!

OCEAN INSPIRATION AND LESSONS TO TAKE HOME

All in all the week was amazing, and it just confirms my belief that in addition to all the amazing things to see on land in the world, many of the world’s treasures and things to see are underwater. And even old broken scraps of ships, parts and pieces some definable and some just looking like rubble, can be beautiful and brought back to life, or at least given a second life where their story can live on by discovering and rediscovering them. The fact that broken things can be beautiful reminds me of our mosaic line of recycled glass jewelry.  

FINDING BEAUTY IN BROKEN SCRAPS: THE MOSAIC COLLECTION

Our Mosaic Collection is made from collecting the broken scraps of glass from the studio and giving them a second life through one of my studio techniques.

Sometimes even scraps and pieces can be beautiful. And that’s why I want to support World Clean Up Day on September 18th and highlight our 'Ocean' mosaic pieces for our September Product Of The Month.

SEPTEMBER PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

The Ocean Mosaic pieces are made from scraps of recycled vodka and Coca-Cola glass bottles. You won’t find an anchor tucked away inside them, but you will find crushed up scraps of blue and aqua glass reminding you of the treasures under the sea.

Now through September 30th, our loyal customers can scoop up our Ocean Mosaic Necklace for only $36 as well as an additional promo code for 15% off other Ocean pieces!