The idea came to Violaine Galland while strolling on a Long Island, N.Y., beach.
”I found a lot of beach glass,” says jewelry designer Galland, who decided to turn her finds into Earth-friendly accessories.
Adding shells and gold-colored wire to the glass, she fashioned earrings, necklaces and bracelets.
”It`s beautiful and environmentally conscious,” says Galland, who is originally from Switzerland.
Her jewelry helps tidy the community`s beaches-the Long Island Department of Sanitation sends Galland a monthly shipment of about 200 pounds of glass, which she polishes and colors, using a non-polluting dye.
”I was working with just natural glass, from beer bottles, mostly, but the colors were really limited,” she says.
So her creations-which cost from about $5 to $28-come in a profusion of colors, from blue to fuchsia, and have won fans all over the country. It`s sold in boutiques from New York to Hawaii, and is moving into the department store realm-Nordstrom is a new client.
The jewelry also is sold in her New York boutique, Cloene, and via mail order. Call 212-873-8433.
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