Man-made, Nature refined.
Sea
glass is like a gem in reverse. Where regular gems made by nature
and then refined by man, sea glass is man-made but
then refined by nature.
As a keen collector of sea glass, my desire is to create products that offer solutions to beach combing. From the beach to the home, I want to provide easy and affordable solutions for all your beach combing needs.
What's behind the logo?
Reverse.Gem's logo is a traditional Japanese pattern called "Seigaiha" (青海波). This literally means blue wave of the sea. It is a repetitive pattern of layered concentric circles creating arches. These are symbolic of waves.
The making of the Reverse.Gem Bag
I was after the perfect bag for my new addiction - sea glass collecting.
Like most people, I started off using my pockets. Every pocket in my jacket to my jeans. But soon those got too full (and even developed holes much to my dismay!).
So then I moved to using recycled plastic bags. But unseen tears led to the heart ache of lost gems not to mention the annoying issue of dealing with wet plastic bags and sand being dragged into the house.
I searched for something that would be more ideal
and eco-friendly to support this obsession. I soon came across a durable plastic mesh bag
tucked away in the toiletries section of a shop. It was simple and ugly
but it did the trick of collecting all my beach combing finds relatively
safe whilst keeping the sand out.
That's when my idea
started to formulate. Why not create an even more practicable bag that
could not only hold lots of beach combing gems and necessities but also
keep my treasures safe.
I wanted to create something waterproof that
could easily hold at least 1lb, fit my flip flops during summer and even
my dog leash. I needed something that could fit tiny sea glass but at
the same time keep the fine sand out.
I needed something that I
could zip up so that I could swim to and from my secret beach without
the fear of losing anything. Or for those times when I was in the water
searching and couldn't risk any waves crashing on me and having my sea
glass fall out.
I needed something that I could easily hold
on my wrist and still climb rocks safely without the fear of it getting
caught on anything. And in the colder months, something that I could
carry on my wrist so that my hand could stay warm in my jacket (of
course the other hand is busy picking up sea glass).
I wanted something that I could easily dip into the water or hose off to wash the sand away, yet dry quickly soon after.
Something lightweight that could be easily folded and placed in my pocket.
That is what I needed, and so that is what I created.
Yoake [yo-a-keh] is the first edition of the Reverse.Gem Beach combing Bag. Yoake [夜明け]
in Japanese means "Dawn". This indigo bag represents those early
morning beach combing walks when the sun is just slowly starting to rise
through the dark blue horizon. There is just no better way to start the day!