Diamante is defined as adornment consisting of a small piece of shiny material used to



decorate clothing. It also means fabric covered with glittering ornaments such as sequins and rhinestones. Originally, these were rock crystals collected from river Rhine. Around 1775, jeweler Georg Friedrich Strass from Alsace was the first to produce imitation rhinestones by coating lower side of glass with metal powder. Because of this development, it was available more easily. Because of this, in some European languages Rhinestone is known as Strass. Rhinestones may be used in place of real diamonds. Even some manufacturers were able to produce same glittering effect of real diamonds exposed to sunlight from these rhinestones.

In 1955, a new technique was introduced by applying a thin, metallic coating using vacuum sputtering on crystals. This effect became known as Aurora Borealis or Aqua Aura. This effect produced a sparkling effect. It tended to reflect whatever color was worn nearby and named after Northern Lights also known as Aurora Borealis.

These crystal rhinestones are manufactured in Austria by Swarovski and in Czech Republic by Preciosa. That is why some times in the United States these stones are called Austrian Crystal.

These s are also used to decorate shoes and other fashion accessories. Diamantes are available in various colors and size. Because of the sparkle and glitter produced by these sequin type materials, they are so popular. They also provide an instant luscious charm. These diamantes are also popular as decorative item. These diamantes are available in lots of varieties from sheets of diamante to diamante pins down to small size diamantes. Heart shaped and tear drop shaped diamantes are one of the most popular types among various other types available. While carrying out various craft projects, these can be stuck on greetings cards, scrap books, journals etc. They are even used by many give a personal touch to their books, stationary and greetings cards used. These can be used in many other creative and interesting ways for decoration purpose.

Diamantes are used extensively in marriage ceremony. It is very popularly used to decorate bridal veil, the flower bouquets used, bridal shoes and tiara. Even sometimes to decorate the wedding cake. They may be used in many creative ways and styles to make the occasion very glamorous. To hold the veil of the bride in proper place, diamante headbands are used quite often. Use of diamante to decorate shoes, sandals and bags has become very popular. These bags decorated with diamante indeed look very glamorous. Some diamante pieces have adhesive on one side, so that it can be anywhere you fancy doing so. Diamantes can also be stitched into dresses. One of the reasons of its popularity is because its use immediately changes the appearance of the object using diamante.