Washed ashore

Gene Allen and Rex Nockengust of Beach Glass Bingo have been making sea glass jewelry for over 20 years using beautiful beach glass in a distinctive contemporary style. But more recently they have expanded to include driftwood and lobster trap

“We have loved working with beach glass ever since we started our business in Hawaii in 2000,” says Gene. “We would collect sea glass on a daily basis, and after amassing so much, we decided it was time to do something with it, thus Beach Glass Bingo was born.”

Having been actors and singers in New York for many years, their skill set did not exactly lend itself to jewelry making, but eventually they learned to drill their “sea gems,” which allowed them to start creating one-of-a-kind necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets.

“A few years ago, we were at a sea glass festival in Cayucos, California, and we stumbled on a huge amount of driftwood,” Rex says. “Aside from its natural beauty, we thought it would be fun to incorporate some of it into our jewelry.”

The weathered driftwood is cut, shaped, and sometimes painted, and then set in silver to create modern, whimsical jewelry. Rex and Gene accent many of the wood pieces with sea glass.

“Over time, we also included lobster trap wood,” Rex continues. They get the wood shipped in pieces and sort it, selecting their favorite pieces.

“Today some of our most popular pieces are made from wood, including our lobster buoy and fish necklaces.” Gene and Rex also create letterforms, small surfboards, hearts, and oval “beads” using the reclaimed wood.

Their coastal jewelry is a great example of upcycling beautifully worn glass and wood from the beach into little pieces of art to be enjoyed by anyone.

See more Beach Glass Bingo jewelry and art at beachglassbingo.net.

Make art with your beach finds

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This article appeared in Beachcombing Magazine Volume 45 November/December 2024