Rhinestones are one of the most popular make of stone that we see these days in dress jewelry.  Mostly the thought of rhinestones brings up pictures of dancing girl lines and shiny false jewels at parties and clubs in Vegas, but in reality rhinestones are everywhere around us these days. You’d be very surprised how many rhinestones you probably see on a daily basis without knowing it.

The very first, true rhinestones came from the River Rhine in Germany, and were a sort of crystal.  Towards the end of the 18th century, jewelry makers started to add a substantial metal backing piece to the crystals to create the same type of reflective power and radiance which most gemstones, including diamonds, have, but which glass and crystal do not. This is, more or less, how rhinestones were started.  

Nearly a century later a technique was produced and refined which allowed for cutting the crystals in a way that was both fast and effective in making them look like diamonds. Swarovski’s new development meant that high quality, nice looking rhinestones could easily be made in a short time and they went very common. Of course, as the crystals from the Rhine started to get depleted, resourceful jewelry makers had to look for new ways to  create these popular items.  

Now, the majority of rhinestones are not made from crystals, but merely from glass or  even acrylic materials.  Making glass rhinestones is comparatively easy, as it’s just a matter of cutting the glass into gemstone shapes and putting the metal mount. Rhinestones made from acrylic also have the metal support but they are produced by adding the plastic mix into metal moulds in the desired shape. Regardless of how they are produced, rhinestones come in pre-determined sizes which vary from just under 2 mm to over twelve mm across.

today rhinestones are very common both in America and other parts of the world.  While they are still most normally known as dress jewelry pieces, rhinestones these days are also employed to create rhinestone buttons, zippers, shoe laces and more.  Creating new designs from old apparel has turned very popular in some circles, with people stitching rhinestones into nearly anything they own to freshen up their old clothes  

Looking after rhinestones isn’t always simple though. Vintage rhinestones can simply mark or even chip if they are not treated properly, so you need to make sure you look after them.  Try to hold them in tight boxes and produce sure the various rhinestones are not touching each other, as this can cause  scratched surfaces. The other important rule with rhinestones is to make sure they are well away from liquid.  If they get wet, it will often cause the metal mount to start to rust or decompose,  and in older pieces it can even cause the stones to fall out of their mounts.