The first time I laid eyes on a strand of Ancient Roman Glass beads I was in love.  Each remarkable piece tells a story; some dating as far back as 400 AD. The true value of these rich beads lies in the history, but you cannot look at the history of these beads without looking at the history of glass its self.  It is believed that glass was discovered accidentally during the production of faience beads.  Egyptians first produced glass vessels and Syrian craftsmen invented glassblowing, but the Romans are considered to have perfected the art of glass making.

Ancient roman glass beads can be sorted into three categories: intentionally produced beads, broken pieces of ancient glass excavated and fashioned into beads, and lastly (my favorite!), “moils”. Moils are sections of glass left over after producing a vessel. They make my heart skip a beat. I know what you’re thinking… “Big deal! Anyone who blows a piece of glass has a left over moil.”  This may be true today, but in Roman times moils were recycled almost always without fail. That’s right – RECYCLED!

We can now date recycling all the way back to Roman times.  Motivations for recycling glass were different from today.  Glass was difficult to make.  It was primarily carried in from the East in large, solid blocks. It was then melted down and blown into vessels.  Pieces of broken glass, moils and mistakes were melted down and the glass was reused.  There was even a large trade for this type of material, much like a modern day recycling center.  Each of these rare moils represents an individual vessel and likely enough glass to cut an entire strand worth of glass beads. Mother Earth has carefully packaged this fragile Roman glass in her Mediterranean sands preserved for our continued enjoyment.  Using Roman glass in jewelry offers the wearer a connection to world history.