Costume Jewelry & Fashion Jewelry

Costume jewelry or fashion jewelry has a rich and vibrant history. The term "Fashion Jewelry" itself is not that old. According to experts, the term has been only been around for about a hundred years or so. The origin of the word can be trace back to early 20th Century. However, fashion jewelry or fashion jewelry itself has been around a lot longer, probably dating back to the early 1700s. That was the era of glass blowing glass. The rich had their fine jewelry duplicated using paste or glass stones. It was only a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of using the same technique to make costume jewelry. Also, diamond prospectors from across the continent were finding uniquely vibrant colored stones in the rivers and river bed which the term semi-precious stones were given.

Costume jewelry and fashion jewelry became very popular in the 1930s as a cheap as a disposable cheap accessory meant to be worn with a specific outfit, but not meant to be as an heirloom piece handed down through generations. It was intended to be fashionable for a short period of time.  In the 1930s, a whole new concept of fashion jewelry came into existence with the introduction of Rhinestone. Its name originally came from the Rhine River.  Rhinestones became the natural substitute for diamonds due to its expensiveness. People from all over the world immediately fell in love with these stones. Although rhinestone's popularity was ever increasing in Europe in the 30’s, it was not available to the Americans until the 1940s.

In the history of costume fashion jewelry, there is one person who should be given credit for making fashion jewelry as popular today- Coco Chanel. This designer made the use of this style of jewelry very popular by using costume jewelry more often than real diamonds. Specifically, Coco is remembered for making pearls fashionable

Jewelry styles change with the trends of the times. These trends can be grouped into approximate (i.e. Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, etc.).There is virtually no difference between costume jewelry and antique jewelry. There are usually some clues that can help one distinguish what era a piece of jewelry is from. For example, from 1910 to 1930 silver was the favorite color of choice for metal, thus, jewelry was found in platinum, white gold, silver or a base metal colored to look like silver. By World War II, gold was popular again. But, due to short supply, rolled gold was made with very thin sheets and usually bonded to silver (called vermeil) before being turned into jewelry. This type of jewelry was often set with semi-precious gems such as amethyst or pearls.

Today fashion jewelry is still as popular as ever. Although we still have fine jewelry, semi precious jewelry, and costume jewelry can add the finishing touch and show your fashion sense. Costume jewelry is both fun to collect and fun to wear and makes a terrific conversation starter. In some cases, it is nearly impossible to know whether we are gazing upon a piece of fine jewelry  comprised of rare stones and metals or just a vibrant luminous  Swarovski crystals, semi- precious stones, and metals enhancing the charms of today’s beautiful women.

The industry leader for creating such gorgeous crystals is the Swarovski company. They are known for producing precision-cut crystal glass products produced near Zürich, Switzerland. The founder Daniel Swarovski invented an automatic cutting machine in 1892. Swarovski crystals contain approximately 32 to 34 percent lead. This allows maximum refraction of light and the spectrum of rainbow colors. In spite of the seemingly high lead content, the Swarovski crystal is very safe and nontoxic. This is accomplished by the extremely high temperatures necessary to make these spectacular works of art.  Here at Dickielee.com we only  used Swarovski crystal.  However, other manufacturers, i.e. in the Far East, produce an inferior product, which may jeopardize your safety. SWAROVSKI  can be identified by its swan logo  in 1988.