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Milestones in Costume Jewelry

In the 1700's in Europe, class status was dictated by the jewels one wore. The upper classes wore diamonds as garment, hair and body adornments. Diamonds were rare even for the wealthy to acquire. So, in Paris in 1724, Georges Stras developed a special glass, stras, that could be cut and polished. This was ultimately called "paste". Paste stones allowed not only the wealthy to fill their growing needs for jewelry but for the first time the middle classes could wear jewels.

At first paste was set in closed mounts of precious metals the same as real gems. Then it was discovered that by leaving the back off, more light could pass through the paste stones, thus producing more sparkle and shine. Paste was much more versatile than real gems, they could be cut and polished to exactly fit a specific design. Soon fine paste jewelry was sold along side the "real" thing.

Rock crystal was also used as a diamond substitute. Deposits of rock crystals were found along Bristol, these were called "Bristows" and in France they were called "Rhine" or "Alencon" stones. The term "Rhinestone" has remained to this day. These stones were more popular in Spain and Portugal and for men's jewelry. Rock crystal didn't have the brilliant appearance of paste stones.

Both paste and rock crystal had to be cut and polished by hand. The jewelry industry had trouble keeping up with the demand. When electricity became more readily available, the next big advancement in costume jewelry took place. In 1892, Daniel Swarovski invented the first machine to cut glass stones. Later he improved on his original invention when he developed a process to precision cut and polish glass stones all in one process. Over time, finer crystal glass was developed and colors added. Swarovski stones are still known today as the best. Other Bohemian companies like Gablonz made similar stones and glass pearls.

1920's Jewelry

1930's Jewelry

1940's Jewelry

1950's Jewelry

1960's Jewelry

1970's Jewelry

1980's Jewelry

The bulk of costume jewelry was made in or shipped to the US. Even though France, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia produced large quantities of fine costume jewelry, the class distinctions in Europe kept the "real" jewelry as the preference.

From the 1920's through all the changes in fashion, names like Miriam Haskell, Chanel, Hobe, Trifari, Schiaparelli, Boucher, etc. remained focused on one thing: creating innovative jewelry designs both to  please themselves and the public. Costume jewelry, especially rhinestone jewelry has seen several rises and falls in popularity but it does endure in the hearts of collectors.

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Revised: 09/22/06.