SLO County maker turns recycled resin into ‘epic’ earrings. What is Surf Gems?
One wintry morning five years ago, Abby Ahlgrim squeezed into a thick black wetsuit, grabbed her surfboard and entered the frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean.
As the foamy Morro Bay waves rushed over her head, a shot of adrenaline raced through her. When she finally paddled into a perfect wave, standing atop the surface of the sea, the only word she could associate with the sensation was “divine.”
Interacting with the ocean was the first time she truly felt at home in her own body, Ahlgrim said.
As Ahlgrim honed her surfing skills during many months of the COVID-19 lockdown, she started to miss her sense of style. The 5-millimeter charcoal wetsuits she needed to survive the bone-chilling waters were the opposite of fashionable, she complained.
“I was yearning for this pop of color and beacon of my femininity in this really male-dominated ocean space,” she told The Tribune.
Ahlgrim decided to try something that she said had rarely been done before — take resin waste leftover over from surfboard production and transform the rainbow slabs into durable jewelry.
In 2020, she launched her own business, Surf Gems, in San Luis Obispo County.
Now Surf Gems’ lightweight, technicolor earrings, rings, necklaces and bolo ties are sold in more than 80 retail stores across the nation, including The Getty art museum in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and all Title Nine shops.
“You can go wear them hiking and biking and running and climbing,” Ahlgrim said. “I have so many women that reflect how grateful they are to have these really epic pairs of earrings that they can take on all their adventures and feel their vibrant selves while doing that.”
Cal Poly alum turns surfboard resin into jewelry
Ahlgrim’s business was only able to get off the ground because of her education, she said.
She spent her elementary and high school years in Waldorf schools in the Bay Area, learning through experience and developing a craftiness that she brought to art projects and entrepreneurial endeavors as a kid.
As a Cal Poly student, Ahlgrim soaked up information like a sponge, becoming fascinated by food issues, sustainability and the infrastructure behind science and technology in peoples’ daily lives.
“I definitely developed this very critical lens of looking just a step further: ‘What’s behind the closed door? What are people really doing? And what are the implications of that?‘ ” Ahlgrim said.
After graduating in 2018, she took a job as a chef at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, but her employment turned out to be short-lived. She was laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ahlgrim’s disappointment swung to joy once she started surfing.
As a child, “I always felt like the runt,” she said. “I always felt like the last person to be picked on the team.”
In the surf, however, she was in sync with the rhythm of the ocean. At last, she had found a sport where she could feel active and alive, Ahlgrim told The Tribune.
At the same time, Ahlgrim was dating someone who worked at a surfboard production shop.
As she watched employees combine foam, fiberglass and resin into sleek surfboards, Ahlgrim’s eyes would shift to the byproduct left on the ground — the reject resin that dripped off the boards and piled up into a mosaic of petrified pigment that would eventually be trashed.
“My boyfriend at the time and the boys at the shop were, like, ‘Abby, you’re creative — do something with it,’ ” she recalled.
So she borrowed a few power tools and began cutting, grinding and sanding the resin into mismatched pieces of all shapes and colors at her tiny Morro Bay studio.
Ahlgrim nicknamed the resin slabs “surf rocks” and her vibrant creations “surf gems.”
She launched a website for Surf Gems and began selling at pop-up markets. Before long, she could barely keep up with the demand.
Ahlgrim said Surf Gems jewelry has gained a devoted customer base because, besides a few hobbyists, she’s the only one converting hardened surfboard resin into wearable art.
Her small batch, one-of-a-kind earrings are both stunning and sustainable, she added.
“I’m the first to say that I’m not saving the planet. This is really a relatively quite minimal amount of waste being rescued from the landfill,” Ahlgrim said. “My hope is that these earrings ... spark connection and curiosity about a more sustainable and vibrant and beautiful future on this planet.”
How are Surf Gems earrings, necklaces made?
Figuring out how to chisel hardened chunks of resin into thin rectangles, squares and triangles took months of trial and error, as well as a few close calls with heavy-duty power tools, Ahlgrim said.
She’s since refined every step of the process, beginning with sourcing surf rock from SLO County and Southern California surfboard producers.
Ahlgrim said she chooses compelling pieces containing intriguing color combinations and dynamic formations.
Then the hard work begins.
She throws on a full-face respirator for hours as she uses saws, grinds, drills and sands the resin down into more than a dozen different shapes that leave her Morro Bay studio coated in a layer of white dust.
Each “gem” is then sanded and polished in a rock tumbler so they’re smooth to the touch and ready to be attached to a hoop, chain or leather strand, depending on the jewelry piece, Ahlgrim told The Tribune.
“It’s small batch, and my hands touch every single pair,” she said. “But I’m growing, and we have to figure out how to create it at the scale to support the demand, which has been really exciting.”
What’s next for successful SLO County maker?
Behind the scenes, the company is a family affair with her mother, Jennifer Nori — nicknamed the GemMama — handling most of the packaging and shipping. Ahlgrim also does some production work out of a studio in her father’s Los Osos home.
In the past six months, Ahlgrim has expanded the Surf Gems team, hiring several more people to slowly amp up production and marketing.
“I am not trying to grow a giant,” she said. “I am wanting to keep it really small.”
For now, she’s focused simply on supporting her mom and a small team on the Central Coast, while also spreading handmade jewelry to customers across the country.
“It just tickles me silly that Surf Gems is out there in my absence, serving as this connective point between people at a grocery store or at the bank or on a mountain top,” Ahlgrim said with a smile. “That is really special for me.”
Where are Surf Gems sold?
Surf Gems are sold in 85 retail stores nationwide, including more than a dozen shops in San Luis Obispo County and all Title Nine locations, according to Ahlgrim.
Locally, you can find them at Central Coast Surfboards in SLO, Wavelengths in Morro Bay and Cayucos Makers in Cayucos.
This holiday season, Surf Gems are also available to purchase at SLOcally Made, 877 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo.
You can also find the jewelry on the Surf Gems website or at pop-up markets in the area, including the Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market in San Luis Obispo.
She’ll hold Open Studio events from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1872 12th St. in Los Osos.
