A Greenwich teen's passion for antique bottles has turned him into an authority on the subject.

Kamil Salame, 17, has been collecting antique bottles since he was 10 years old, and recently founded the Greenwich-Stamford Antique Bottle Club. He says he finds areas where there have been old fires to find many of his treasures.

Salame has almost 1,000 bottles from the late 1700s through the 1930s.

"Each one of these bottles has its own character and its own story, and what I'm really fascinated in is not only the bottle and the quality and the form of the bottle itself, but who owned the bottle, who was the manufacturer and what can this tell us about our own economic and manufacturing history in the region which we live," says Salame.

A few years ago, Salame was called upon by the Greenwich Historical Society when they dug up several bottles as they built their new building. Salame says digging up these relics is like finding treasure, and the historical society says he's quite a find for someone so young with such an old soul.

"It's kind of unusual for somebody as young as he is to have not only the great interest in it, but also the depth of knowledge," says Christopher Shields, of the Greenwich Historical Society.

Salame also writes a column for "Antique Bottle and Glass Collector," which is the largest publication on glass in the country.

Salame says he's thinking his passion could direct him toward studying to become an archaeologist.