The most common colors are beer bottle brown and coke bottle green. Harder to find but very beautiful are the cobalt (or Vick's bottle) blue and reds that come from the fishing floats. The most rare finds come in yellow, orange and pinks. These latter hues started out as vases or perfume bottles. They are usually confined to spots in Europe where perfume is a big commodity.

Broken from their original shape by being smashed into coastal jetty's by powerful waves, the pieces are dragged along by currents and land on beaches thousands of miles from where a careless party animal tossed it into the sea. No one really knows how long it takes for the junk to revert to gems by the oceans magic but it is probably years.

Most show up in a tear drop shape though I found one that looked exactly like a woman's leg wearing a high-heel shoe. They can be thick or very thin and fragile and come in a variety of sizes.

The next time you take a walk along a beach, watch out for these little gems, pick them up and thank the ocean for making something beautiful out of garbage.