While her jewelry line was founded on the ethos of sustainability, Surf Gems creator Abby Ahlgrim said she’d be the first to say her business isn’t saving the planet.
“We do rescue hundreds of pounds of resin from the landfill, but ultimately, it’s quite minimal. My hope is that folks wear the jewelry, and everywhere they go, other people will ask about it,” she said.
Ahlgrim’s idea for Surf Gems started in 2020 when she explored the sport of surfing during the pandemic in the Morro Bay area. Spending time at a local surf shop, she said she noticed the layers of wasted resin on its floors, a result of surfboard making.
“Surfboards are shaped out of foam, and then they’re covered with a layer of fiberglass and then pigmented resin. And then excess resin, through that process of pouring it on top of the board, the excess drips off the sides of the board and then collects on the shop floor. And so over time, board builders will be walking on top of layers and layers and layers of pigmented resin buildup. It’s like beautiful landscapes of pigment,” she said. “Typically, they will clean up their shop and jackhammer it all up and throw it away periodically when it builds up several inches.”
Ahlgrim said she saw another use for it—making vibrant and unique pieces of jewelry that are colorful and spark conversation among the community.
“Surfboard making is one industry among billions of industries on this planet that have cleverly concealed realities closed behind doors,” she said. “So my hope is that these tiny slices of vibrant colors serve as a conversation starter to a much larger story about a more sustainable future. Whether you’re in the grocery store, on a mountainside, or at the line at the bank, wherever my customers wear their Surf Gems, other people inevitably inquire as to their origins.”
Ahlgrim makes each piece of jewelry by hand—right now, primarily earrings and some necklaces—out of her shop in Morro Bay with the help of her parents.
“I call it ‘surf rock’—the material of resin. It’s like these big fragments of slabs, and I take the surf rock and cut and grind and sand and polish and turn it into Surf Gems,” she said. “So I have a little workshop in Morro Bay where I do all the dirty work, the cutting and grinding and drilling and the storing of my raw material.”
Perusing Surf Gems’ website, unique shapes and vibrant colors in themes like “multitudes” and “first light” offer what Ahlgrim called a taste of femininity in a male-dominated sport.
“I learned to surf in San Luis Obispo County; it’s really cold and there is not a lot of opportunity for colorful surf, where a thick wetsuit is necessary year-round, and it’s a pretty male-dominated space,” she said. “And so, as a femme in that sphere, I was also curious to find ways for a spark of color and a beacon of my femininity while doing this activity that I love so deeply.”
She also said she hopes it provides a sense of self for any woman in any sport, whether it’s running, biking, or rock climbing.
“Surf Gems has provided this opportunity for self-expression in these spaces that otherwise feel quite limited,” Ahlgrim said.
Individual jewelry pieces are available for sale on the Surf Gems website, but Ahlgrim said she sells internationally at 70 stores, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Surf Gems’ Morro Bay home studio will also be participating in the SLO County Arts Open Studios Art Tour this October, where customers can mingle and get to experience the company’s tagline, “color in motion.”
“Not only is that something very vivid in my experience as a surfer, where when you’re in motion, when you’re surfing, the world is color in motion,” she said. “But likewise, when I’m wearing Surf Gems—they dangle, and they are in motion. And when you’re doing any activity wearing them, it’s color in motion.”
Fast fact
• Donations made to the Woods Humane Society during the month of August will be doubled, up to $25,000, thanks to a matching donation from The Marianne and Stacy Cocks Fund, a fund of The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County, and another anonymous donor. The August Match challenge hopes to boost fundraising as the shelter faces rising costs of care and “explosive” growth in the number of homeless puppies and kittens it serves. For more information, visit woodshumane.org. Δ
Reach Staff Writer Libbey Hanson at lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Aug 21-31, 2025.