I almost didn’t recover this bottle… Its funny, because if you watch the Crystal Palace Recovery Video, you will actually see me pause and look at the bottle in depth. This dive was early in my bottle career, and I had not yet learned how to tell an old bottle from a newer one. I was actually debating on wether or not to keep it. I had thought that the embossing and writing must have meant that it was machine made and probably new and not worth anything. For the hell of it, I decided to keep it and put it in my bag. When I got home, this bottle and the others I found that day, stayed on the cold garage floor in the corner for about a month before I got around to looking it up. And boy was I glad I kept it! After some extensive research, I listed it on ebay where it had a huge number of watchers, and the PMs started flowing in. People were offering all sorts of ridiculous offers. I think I had it listed at $750, and to my surprise, the auction ended without a single bid. A […]

Here is a small compilation of some broken bottle necks that we have found lately.  Visit our Facebook page and post your broken necks too!  Recovering Relics – Facebook page […]

I always loved the water. When I was a little kid and had floaties on my arms, and I jumped right into the pool. One summer, while on vacation at a friends lake house, I made am impromptu snorkel out of a garden hose and tried to explore the depths. What was below? In college I swam in the pool almost every morning to try to stay in shape. One early morning, while doing my laps, bubbles rose from the deep. The university SCUBA club was having a training session in the pool right below me. I knew at that moment I needed to have SCUBA in my life. f I joined the team, and got open water certified through East Bay Dive Center in Warren RI. I had my open water training at Ft Adams, RI. I was hooked and I soon purchased all the gear I needed to start diving on my own. After I graduated, I made friends with local divers and began experiencing the technical world of scuba diving. My dive buddies at the time would later become my scuba mentors and help me grow along the way. I looked into tech […]

We decided to dive a different spot than usual. I dropped anchor from my kayak, geared up in the water, and headed down my anchor line into the dark and murky waters. I went down much slower this time, as I was unaware of the bottom conditions. Was I coming down onto mud? Onto Sand? Onto a fallen tree covered in fishing hooks and monofilament line? It was getting darker and darker, and at 22′ down, there was the bottom. Nothing but very fine and silty mud. I controlled my bouyancy and stayed off the bottom so I didn’t stir up the sediment. After about 30 minutes of nothing, I came across what appeared to be, not a sea shell, but an artillery shell… It appears to still have the casing, and cap in place. You can see the goldish circle on the pictures below. I am not sure why there are holes in the side of what would be the projectile. Would this be something the military does to disarm ordnance? Was something attached to it at some point? I have no idea. If you know […]

There are many types of cathedrals in this world, but one in particular made my day on a cold morning dive last season. The Dive As is with the majority of my dives, I find nothing of particular significance. This dive, true to form, was particularly uneventful – I didn’t see much in terms of treasure, so I did my part to pick up trash from uncaring polluters. It’s really amazing what some people discard. . . It’s really amazing what some people discard – out of sight, out of mind. . . but hey. . . I guess if trash stays down there long enough, it might become someone’s treasure in a hundred years. Toward the end of the dive, I found this gem. Partially buried, I felt horrible when I plucked it from the bottom and a eel who was making it her hideout slithered out. I knew this was a special find, so I brought it straight to the surface. Years of mineral and organic deposits have accumulated on the glass surface, each offering a different challenge to […]

“This isn’t the wild west anymore” Said a friend of mine when he saw me carrying my personal firearm on my hip. I simply replied, “I would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” These days violent crimes are everywhere. Schools, stores, movies, heck even military bases. Why not carry and protect yourself? You never know when you will run into a gun. Heck, I was diving solo, minding my own business in a nice and quaint area, and came across a gun in 30′ of water! This firearm (later discovered to be an old .22 revolver) was almost completely buried by the bottom sand and mud. The currents in this area change the bottom all the time, and this gun was almost gone forever. When I uncovered it, I knew it was extremely fragile by the way the metal was expanded and rusted. I brought it to the surface and put it in a safe spot on my kayak where it wouldn’t get further destroyed. Typically when we find firearms, we contact […]

Okay, Okay, I’ll admit, of the three of us, I’m the one most likely to cling to my finds. . . all of them, regardless of how common a bottle may be. Hey, I still have a couple of old beer cans kicking around from my childhood collection. As I descended down my anchor line, I flicked on my dive light. Crap, I forgot to change the batteries in my dive light. The water was particularly cloudy that day since it had rained earlier that week. My weak light produced no more light than a candle. Needless to say, I cautiously crawled along the bottom becoming surprised at each find for that day. So when I stumbled upon this 1870s Rush’s Buchu and Iron A.H. Flanders M.D. New York medicine bottle mostly submerged in the sand, I thought to myself, hmmm, this looks like a cool bottle. Heck, every bottle looks cool to me, but this one seemed different. I packed it up carefully and continued through the rest of my dive. As is common at the end of our dives, we take time to talk […]

Sometimes in daily life we fall into that same old routine… hit the snooze a few times, roll out of bed and fire up the Keuirg. When the Eggo pops up, you find yourself in a fog that rivals that Kiss concert back in ’86. At some point, you find yourself driving down the same back roads you’ve been navigating for years. As you flip through the FM presets, a familiar voice catches your attention. As you pause for a moment, Jimmy Koplik runs through the summer concert schedule. Just as he gets to the Dave Matthews dates in Hartford, you realize your already navigating the entrance of the interstate.  I’ve always found it ironic how you take for granted that routine drive, to the point where you actually don’t remember seeing anything at all. Once again you’ve been preoccupied while getting to your target location, only to begin your actual main morning commute. Our dive plan today surrounded one of our sites frequently visited.  I’ve […]

As Spring is upon us, some of the interesting shards and pieces of my finds have found a home in my garden. I have a feeling the garden will slowly be taking on a nautical theme as the seasons pass. . . […]

Thanks to an interested community, we have reached over 1000 likes since we launched a few days ago! To celebrate, we are giving away these actual recovered finds. These five bottles could be yours, thats all you need to do is visit www.recoveringrelics.com and enter to win! Giveaway will take place at 11:59 EST on Saturday 5.14.16. Winner will be contacted via email. All shipping charges are included, as long as it’s a US shipping address. Overseas shipping must be paid by the winner. Good luck Recovering some Relics of your own! -Ed,Matt & Doug […]

I have been dating the most amazing woman Samantha, whom I met while studying abroad in Italy, since April 2012. Since then, we have lived together in big and small apartments, endured different job changes, bought a beautiful home together, purchased cars together, and got engaged! I love her to death and I would do anything for her. Anything. So when she finally had enough of all the bottles around the house, on every window sill, on the fireplace mantle and on every shelf, it was time to Move My Glass! No more bottles around the house! There were too many!!! I started to sell some at a local Flea market, and had them organized on shoe organizers. But I wasn’t selling to the right audience and back home they came… I was able to create a space in the basement, now called the ‘Man Cave’ where I store my finds that haven’t yet sold. They are starting to overflow! So I started to be very active on eBay and I sold a lot of bottles through eBay itself. Then I […]

This was an interesting find for me. I didn’t think this was a really great find at the time of discovery, and it went into my general ‘goodie’ bag during my dive. Typically, when I know I found something really good, I will bring it straight to the surface, to make sure it is safe, and doesn’t endure further damage. This bottle, for some reason, was different at the time. After cleaning it up at home, I realized it had some nice color! I quickly looked it up, and posted it to a bottle forum, and then learned that it was actually a fairly rare bottle! With the scratches it had around the neck, it didn’t bring in as much as I had hoped, but the buyer was a friend and future repeat buyer. It was funny, because I actually saw this same guy at the Coventry Bottle Show, and he had the Yale bottle there with him, and handed it off to a professional cleaner to have the bottle tumbled. Where is it now? I am not sure if he still has it in his collection, or if he […]

This was a unique dive for me. I wanted to try out a new spot, far away from where we typically dive. I wanted to explore new territory and try out different ground. This was a test dive for me. It was a fairly calm and slow dive. The bottom was extremely silty and muddy, and I needed to go extra slow to make sure I didn’t cloud the water in front of me. I didn’t see much besides a few large carp that seemed upset I was in their waters. I later found out that carp are very territorial and I probably just swam right through his stomping grounds. I was getting low on air, and my gauge read about 1100psi (I like to have a good reserve of air just in-case I run into problems on the way to the surface). As I was about to start my way up the anchor line, I saw the most beautiful bottle just barely poking its head from the silt. It was a cobalt blue, John Boardman Mineral Water bottle from New York. Dive along with me to recover it! Thank you for joining me, please subscribe to […]

Hostess bottles, that is… A great day for a quick dive with Ed. Can’t wait for more adventures searching for twins. […]

Out for an eary dive today with Doug.  It was a great morning, with some fisherman casting from a nearby pier.  The current was strong but we had about 7ft of visibility. About midway through our dive I uncovered this great double tooled drippy lip, unfortunately it was broken at the neck.  We did recover about ten other bottles, including a nicely embossed Bacon and some great art deco sodas. […]

After some discussion and research this past week, we have agreed to do a few test dives in a new location today.   The dive was only about 30ft, and looked promising through the first thirty minutes or so.  I had recovered about 20 bottles, then the trail went cold.  As the bottom makeup changed to a smooth sandy patch, there it was… about half hidden into the sand.  I couldnt belive my eyes, but still wasent sure I had a whole bottle.  As i waved my hand back and forth to clear the sand, the onion started to become more visible. There it was, staring me back in the face.   After a little help from the glass experts that specialize in eary pieces, this was identified as an English Onion Bottle circa 1705-1715. Absolutely, my best find this year. Update: I’ve been asked by several members to post a picture of the damaged side… So here you go… […]

It was a cool and foggy morning, when my dive buddies and I decided to go for a dive.  We had been watching the weather all week and keeping a close eye on the tides to make sure we hit it just right .  This dive was going to be very rewarding.   Toward the end of the dive, the sun started to break through the clouds. Although the water was fairly deep and murky, The warm rays of sunshine penetrated all the way down to me. With a few hundred pounds of air left, I came across what looked to be some old pottery. After Fanning away the sediment with my hands, the entire jug was exposed. I then very carefully carried it straight up to the surface and put it on my recovery vessel. After a quick lunch with my buddies, I went home to further investigate my find.  In talking and sharing pictures with professionals in the field, it was determined to be in olive jar from 1600-1700 era. Some called it an amphora, and others to simply called it in olive jar.  Regardless of its name, it is very […]

During a early fall dive, in fast, flooded waters, this little gem was just waiting in the dark cold water for me to swim right up to it. Come with me for the Dive!!! As always, be safe and Dive Dive Dive!!! […]

August 21, 2015. These three bottles really made my dive season.  They were all found the same day, on the same dive.  I have been really picky these past few months with finds that I bring home.  I am running out of room on the shelves in the man cave, and my fiance is running out of patience with my ‘trash’ collection.  After these finds, she no longer sees them as trash! 😉 As any other dive, I was waiting for Doug and Ed to arrive at the dive site while I ate my bagel and drank my coffee.  I don’t really give them a hard time about being late because they have a fairly decent drive.  Regardless, I had my Yak and gear all at the waters edge waiting to go already. After helping them carry the tanks, yaks, and gear, they finally got ready and were good to dive! Visibility was actually not half bad for a late Summer/early fall dive. Water was 79 degrees, and a thin 3 mil wetsuit was all that I needed to keep warm for the 83 minute dive. After the dive, I surfaced to […]

I have to admit – I have a hard time parting with my finds. “Get these bottles out of my house,” my wife demanded after the threshold of her tolerance was reached by the mountain of glass that had accumulated on every flat surface. So when she, the creative soul that she is, came up with a great way to showcase my glass in a way that she felt could be tastefully displayed, I jumped at the chance. We emerged from a trip to the Elephant’s Trunk with an antique wooden crate followed by a trip to Home Depot for LED puck lights. When the sun goes down, the soft glow of of my glass treasures warms the room and sparks reminiscent conversation on occasion. What was once so carelessly discarded over the rail of a tall ship, destined to be forgotten in the cold dark depths – now is displayed in its rightful glory. […]

July 12, 2015 was a very foggy morning.  Doug, Ed, and I met up early (before the sun came up) in order to catch the tides just right.  We geared up our Ocean Kayaks and headed to the deep waters. As I descended into the murky waters, I realized that the visibility was pretty bad due to a heavy rain the day before.  I hit the bottom and began my hunt. I ended up staying down for over an hour, as the water was relatively warm, and the currents were slow and manageable.  I like to breathe deep and slow.  Its good to just relax and really slow down once in a while. After the good day of diving, we parted ways.  I went home to clean up my finds. The two on the left were old black glass wine bottles, a clear flask, a Listerine bottle, a Larkin Soap bottle, a little aqua ink, and a round bottom ballast bottle.  Believe it or not, the smallest bottle brought the biggest reward!  My aunt decorates her house with a nautical theme, and she very gladly took the beautiful aqua ink off my hands! […]