Costume Jewelry Online

Vintage Swarovski Jewelry

Vintage Swarovski jewelry can be extraordinary; you can see colors and shapes that are no longer available. The glimmer and shine of these unique crystals and rhinestones are unparalleled. Let's take a look at Swarovski jewelry; a litte of the history and what's for sale.

Swarovski Background

Back in the late 1800's in the beautiful country of Austria, Daniel Swarovski perfected a means of creating crystal rhinestones. Using a mechanical process, Daniel was able to perfectly cut the rhinestones for the best sparkle, in far less time than if done by hand.

Swarovski rhinestones and beads are made with lead crystal, which has a superior look to rhinestones and beads made with regular glass.

Swarovski is still a major player today in jewelry. You can see everything from bracelets to rings to necklaces to brooches, all done up with these glorious stones. You can even find lovely (very popular indeed for collectors).

About Aurora Borealis

While I'm not sure who exactly developed the Aurora Borealis (AB) coating, you need to know that it was first used in costume jewelry in the early 1950's. I would say the year 1955 (since it's the date I most often see), but there's a chance that it might have been available a year or two earlier.

So as a general rule, jewelry with AB stones or beads were manufactured from 1955 onwards. If you see costume jewelry that supposedly dates to the 1930's or 1940's, either the seller is misinformed, or the original stones have been replaced with AB stones.