A rhinestone or paste or diamante is a diamond simulant made from rock
crystal, glass or acrylic.
Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river
Rhine. The availability was greatly increased when around 1775 the
Alsatian jeweller Georg Friedrich Strass had the idea to imitate
diamonds by coating the lower side of glass with metal powder. Hence,
rhinestones are called Strass in many European languages.
Rhinestones may be used as imitations of diamonds, and some
manufacturers even manage to reproduce the glistening effect real
diamonds have in the sun.
