History of Rhinestones in Fashion

Definition: rhinestones - colorless imitation stones of high luster made of glass, paste, or gem quartz

Rhinestones are pieces of faceted glass. The original rhinestones were pebbles of rock crystal from the Rhine River (Austria's western boundary).

The true sparkle began in about 1775 when a French jeweler named George Frederic Stras had an idea to coat the lower side of glass with metal powder. The resulting quality closely imitated diamonds. They still were not real affordable because the stones were individually handcrafted.

1892 Daniel Swarovski, son of a Bohemian gem cutter, applied for a patent on his first invention: a machine that cuts crystal jewelry stones with unprecedented precision.

1895 Swarovski moves to Austria, where his invention could be powered by water, to set up a factory specializing in the production of cut crystal jewelry stones. Success in producing rhinestones economically without compromising the quality of the cut is achieved which meant acceptance in the jewelry industry.

1911 Daniel and his three sons refine methods to produce stones to a state of flawless brilliance. 1917 the company succeeds in producing grinding wheels for cutting crystal stones to increase production capacity.

1955 the Aurora Borealis is presented; a coating is applied to crystal stones to produce a rainbow of colors effect

1956 Daniel dies at the grand old age of 94 leaving one of Austrians largest companies and one of the worlds largest producers of rhinestones which exports 80% of its production.

Today crystal rhinestones are primarily used on costumes, apparel and jewelry and are produced mainly in Austria and the Czech Republic Acrylic rhinestones are also manufactured in several countries.

Source: http://jewelry.about.com