Seaham Waves

Seaham Waves is a sea glass jewellery studio run by Gavin Hardy from Unit 2, 4 South Crescent in Seaham, close to the harbour. Hardy began collecting sea glass from local beaches as a family hobby before turning it into a full-time trade, opening the current studio in July 2013. The glass worked here originated as waste from a Victorian glassworks in Seaham that closed in the 1920s; decades of wave action have smoothed the discarded glass into frosted pebbles, which Hardy and his team drill, polish and set into pendants, earrings and rings. Alongside retail sales, the studio runs hands-on sessions where visitors drill and set their own piece of sea glass to take home. It trades as a single independent studio rather than a franchise, sourcing its raw material from the local coastline rather than imported glass, within walking distance of Seaham harbour and the town's seafront cafes.